For Always: Secrets
by xocharleegir1912lxo
Summary: The war had been won, but the repercussions ran deep within everyone. Hermione Granger especially, she shut off from people, even Draco. She began keeping all of her feelings a secret, but she's not the only one. Draco has secrets. Lucius has secrets. Its only a matter of time before they unravel and a Dark force emerges. Everyone will be tested. Everyone.(Sequel)
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Here it is everyone! The first chapter to the sequel, as you know its been a hard road and writing this is proving to be very difficult for me but I hope you guys stick with it and enjoy it. Thank you for all the support, reviews and follows the For always series. I really hope this isn't a let down for you all, review if you would like. Hope everyone is well!**

**Love,**

**xocharleegirlxo**

Chapter 1:

" War changes everything. The world is never the same after a war. Any war. There are holes...missing parts. The best you can do is pick up the pieces that are left and start to build again. It'll never be the way it was before."

Vernon Kraft couldn't have been more right about that, and Draco was a first hand witness to it. At first things looked up. After Hermione had pleaded tearfully to the Minister of Magic he was let off, and his mother was released upon Harry Potter's request for her help and aid during the battle plan and his father was under house arrest, he never stayed to hear the ridiculous excuses as to why it was that way for his father but it was, granted towards the end Draco saw a little change in him. But now there was much celebration that followed after the war, as there should have been because the evil was gone now, they could live peacefully and without fear.

Accept there was fear. Fear in the memories that consumed you every waking moment, fear that reconstruction would never be complete, fear that you were going to lose yourself in grief. There was still fear and plenty of it. It was going to be a battle in itself to get through this, thats why Draco decided he and Hermione needed to start over. He couldn't keep her at the Manor but she didn't want to stay at the Weasley's, remembering Fred was too hard for her; even if she wouldn't admit it to him he could tell.

She had a rough time in the following days after she had woken up, and Draco felt there was nothing to do but help her through it, if she would stop pushing him away. She was lost in grief over her friends, lost in guilt for not being awake during the funeral and being there for everyone and not seeing the end of the war through. The guilt and memories were what weighed her down the most. And when Draco tried to comfort Hermione she would seek it for a short while before she quickly walked away muttering that she was fine. Draco knew the truth, thats why he did what he could to help; which for Hermione was ample distraction. It was the only thing that would work, he tried talking to her but she would just shut him out even more.

That's why today he was coming back to the Manor with boxes. It was time they would get their own home, he knew she couldn't stand being here and she wouldn't go to the Weasley's, her house was out of the question; so he had bought them their own home. He would still run the Estate, his mother would stay behind and maintain it and he didn't have to worry about her being lonely with father around.

Draco set the boxes on the ground of the main entry room, this was the last bunch out of the 100's. He could have done it from magic, sure, but he knew Hermione would like it better this way and it gave him more time to just talk and be around her anyway so he didn't mind. He had barely made it down the first step of stairs before he felt a panic awake in his chest. Their bond was stronger than ever now, and he could feel everything more clearly; he could tell that in this moment she was fighting the panic and the darkness, that she was trying to stay strong. He quickened his pace down the hall and went to a full on sprint when she started screaming. He opened the door quickly and found her curled up in a ball, her head on her knees and rocking back and forth.

He got onto the bed and pulled her to him like he had done so many times recently, he offered her a Sleeping Draught but she refused so all he could do now was hold her through this time. He had a hand on the back of her head and one on her back, her body unfurled and she bent her body against his, a soft tremor running through her. Whenever Hermione felt him near she calmed down, but she felt embarrassed and never stayed near him too long before she pushed him aside.

"Its alright, everythings fine." He shushed her.

She pulled away and cleared her throat, "Where were you?"

Draco sighed but thought it better not to mention her change in behavior, "I was just gathering some things. I was wondering what your thoughts would be on moving?" He said with a goofy grin.

Hermione looked at him before her own smile split her face, all pain momentarily forgotten, "You didn't."

"Oh but I did."

Hermione squealed in excitement and threw her arms around Draco. She had these moments of extreme happiness and Draco basked in this emotion. "Draco," She pulled away slowly and looked at him, her eyes shy. "I was wondering if we could go visit Teddy today. He is staying with the Weasley's right now, just got back from his Aunts and its been a little while since I've seen him."

Draco looked at her curiously, noting that she was wearing a tank top and a pair of sports shorts that she had worn to bed. He grabbed her hands and apparated them away, and they landed in front of the Weasley domain. Hermione clung to Draco's arm to steady herself and she giggled a little at the sudden dizziness that went through her, for some reason it made her laugh. When her eyes opened, fully adjusted she saw Draco smiling at her.

The way his eyes twinkled at her and how his bright hair glowed in the sunlight, it made her want to kiss him and tell him all of her secret feelings. She hadn't kissed him since the end of the war, she hadn't really allowed herself to be close to him since the end of the war. She kept her distance and part of her wanted nothing more than to accept all the good things that came with their Veela bond, but she couldn't will herself to choose. And just like always in those little intimate moments that made her knees go weak, she cleared her throat and pulled away; heading for the door.

Hermione could feel the summer air, warm and comfortable, kissing her skin in the bright morning. Since the Weasley's lived near some water Hermione could feel the humidity already starting and was glad that she was in her shorts and tank top, not really minding the lack of clothing; she knew the day was going to be scorching. She welcomed the cool grass between her toes and felt a sense of happiness at being in the burrow. She was glad they had rebuilt it and stayed in the same location, it had to have been painful since it was destroyed but in all of its lopsided beauty it was worth it.

She stopped walking before she got all the way to the door and extended her arm out to reach for Draco's hand. He gratefully took it and gave her a small smile. They walked hand in hand into the main enterance of the room and were greeted with the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked, along with all the chaos that was ensuing within the household. She could hear laughter within and it only drove her to move faster towards the kitchen. She had kept her distance a lot from the Weasley's, she didn't want to hurt them but she didn't do it on purpose, something in her just didn't accept the lunch invitations. She knew they understood, they had too; how could they not after witnessing the torture she had to undergo? And that was only a little bit of it, and the Weasley's weren't without heart.

Hermione entered the kitchen and stood in the doorway silently, watching everyone smiling and laughing as they piled their plates with food. Mrs. Weasley was the one who spotted her, freezing on the spot with a huge smile on her face. All the others turned towards the direction she was starring in and stopped talking, smiles splitting their faces at seeing their old friend.

"Hermione Granger! What a pleasant surprise!" Molly rushed forward and held her in a motherly hug, releasing her and squeezing her shoulders. "Draco, my dear boy its good to see you." She gave him a quick hug before heading back to the stove. "Grab plates and we will get you a spot of breakfast."

"No thank you." Hermione said. "I've already eaten, if I could have a cup of tea would that be alright?" She said while hugging her other friends.

Molly gave Hermione a knowing look, "Alright then. Draco did you eat?"

He shook his head no and watched Hermione stare straight ahead. He had a mind to confront her about her lie but thought better of it in front of everyone else. When he got her alone he would tell her she had to eat something. And amongst Merlins good graces they heard a screeching cry that belonged to none other than Teddy. Molly looked at her cooking concerned, as if deciding how quickly she could grab the awoken babe and get back to the stove before it all burned.

"I'll get him Molly." Hermione whispered, turning and heading towards the living room and up the staircase. Draco smiled at Molly and followed Hermione close behind.

He loved watching her walk up the stairs, especially when she wore shorts. The way her muscles tensed and released under her creamy, butterscotch colored skin was beautiful and called to gently put a hand to her waist, needing some type of physically contact, as they descended up the stairs to the second floor and down the hall. It wasn't that Draco needed to have sex with her, he was gentleman enough not to need it; but Veela's were sexual creatures. It was one of the ways that they knew their bond was alright and lately, for the last month or so since the war, she wasn't touching him hardly at all. It made him worry, if their bond wasn't strong and he couldn't feel her emotions towards him a little bit he would have been sick with concern, but he knew he had to give her time.

Hermione stopped walking and stared at the door. It was Fred's old bedroom that they put Teddy in. Draco reached around her and grabbed the door handle, pushing the door open. He walked passed her and was greeted by a smiling Teddy, who was holding himself up with the side of the grib. He gently swooped up the baby, tossing him in the air slightly before hugging him to his body. He walked out of the room and closed the door, looking at Hermione thoughtfully. She looked distant, and tears were starting to swim in her eyes. Draco reached up and caressed her cheek gently, pulling her back to the present and she looked into his eyes, finding a sense of comfort before Teddy started giggling.

"Can I hold him?" She asked softly.

"If you promise to eat something, yes." At her outraged look he continued before she could speak. "A piece of toast and orange juice. Thats all I ask from you."

"Fine." She mumbled holding out her hands for the baby. "Aren't you growing up to be so handsome!" She said, kissing his cheek and heading downstairs, not believing that he was already so big for being only four months.

Reaching the bottom of the steps Draco brought his arms around Hermione's waist and guided her into the kitchen so she couldn't make herself comfortable in the living room. They came here to visit not for her to shelter herself off when she started feeling too much. He pulled a chair out for her to sit in and nodded at Potter and the Weasle. When Hermione was in her long sleep they had gotten to realize that Draco had cared for Hermione, a lot more than what they thought possible and they came to an understanding and if Hermione woke up they promised they would no longer fight for her sake. So far it was going well.

"Molly, could I actually have some toast and orange juice instead." Hermione asked shyly, not one to break her promise. "I can get it myself."

Molly smiled broadly at Hermione, "Of course you can dear and no need I have lots of toast piled up on this plate. " Molly brought over a large plate piled high with toast. "Help yourself to some juice." She nodded to the pitcher on the table.

Draco grabbed her cup and poured the bright yellow liquid in it and put two pieces of toast on Hermione's plate setting it in front of her. She smiled at him gratefully and looked at the food full of disdain. She took a slow bite and started stirring up baby cereal for Teddy to eat along with some applesauce. There was so much food and it was no wonder. The whole Weasley family was here, all of them reuniting after the war for the summer before they decided they had to go off and do their separate things. It was truly a beautiful time, the sun had started shining now and it was coming through the window, gleaming off of people's cups, plates and silverware. Hermione decided it was a good morning.

Once Molly had all the food prepared she had settled herself down at the head of the the table while Arthur had just walked in to join the other side of the table. "Welcome back Hermione." He patted her lovingly on the back.

They all ate together, some conversation going on here and there but it was mainly quiet while they ate. People were more focused on food then having a proper conversation at the moment. Hermione didn't want to admit it but the toast was actually very good, and she was hungrier than she anticipated. She leaned over and asked Draco if he could grab her more toast, to which he smiled at her and hand fed her a bite of his before grabbing some more and tossing it on her plate. She had been eating and feeding Teddy at the same time, but it was getting a little bit more difficult as Teddy was out of food and had decided to go after the food in her own hand. Draco chuckled and saw the struggle before he grabbed Teddy for her and fed him a little more applesauce.

Hermione nodded gratefully and began finishing her own toast, but the absence of the baby and the comfort he brought was very noticeable to her and she started shaking her leg up and down as a nervous habit. Draco rested his hand on her leg to stop the jittering and gently stroked it with his thumb, to which she started calming down to. It was almost as if it was normal, that things were alright again. And Hermione couldn't have felt happier, she just hoped it would last.

Once they had finished eating the conversation had started buzzing and jokes were being told. You would have never guessed any of them had gone through anything this past year, that they had lost anyone. That was how beautiful this moment was and nothing could ruin it. Draco and Hermione shared the news that they were moving, everyone was very excited and Mrs. Weasley offered to cook their meals for the week as moving was a strenuous task, magic or no magic. Ginny wanted to help decorate and unpack the things and Hermione cringed at that thought laughing.

"No offense Gin, but I don't think our styles are the same."

"Well then I can just sit there and observe." Ginny huffed, with a giggle and a little glint in her eye. " I suppose now is the time as good as any." Ginny glanced at Harry and brought her left hand up onto the table with a large grin. "We got engaged!"All eyes landed on the ring that sat delicately on her finger and then the room was filled with yelps and whoops and congrats.

"Its about time mate!" Ron said, laughing as he comforted his mother who was weeping with joy.

"Right. Well I believe Ron, that I won the bet." George perked up. "Thats 10 gallons from you brother."

"What bet?" Ginny asked.

"I told Ron that Harry wouldn't have the guts to ask you until about a month or so into the summer. We placed a bet on it."

"Actually Harry asked me two weeks ago, we just wanted everyone together before we told." Ginny said matter a factly.

"Well brothers, "Bill cut in, "Looks like both of you are wrong. Cough up the money." Everyone burst into laughter, as Ron and George passed over the money, it was amazing that here was a 28 year old man acting as if he was but a boy again.

"Wait, Ronald what did you bet." Hermione asked.

"That it wouldn't happen until much later. Mine had nothing to do with guts, just logic."

"Which you have always lacked." Hermione added with a laugh that tickled everyone's ears. It was a good sound. "How is Fluer?"

"She's good, she is visiting her family at the moment. She is definitely a family girl, can't stay away from them for too long; but then again she can't stay away from me either." He added with a wink.

"Merlin! This house is filled with Veela disgustingness!" Ron muttered.

"Get used to it." Draco chuckled. "How long do you have Teddy?"

"About a week, then he goes back to his Aunt and Uncles." Molly sighed. "Why they won't just keep the boy is beyond me."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Teddy's Aunt and Uncle don't want anything to do with him. It seems as though he brings up too many bad memories for them."

"So he is just getting passed back and forth?" Hermione asked, full of frustration. "Why don't you guys take him?"

"Well we are going to be travelling a lot more now. We will be going back and forth between all of our children and spending time with each of them. We would love to take him, don't get us wrong Hermione." Arthur spoke. " Between us traveling all over the world, wherever our kids are located and our age it will be a lot of work to take care of Teddy."

"I'm not questioning your decision." Hermione said, grabbing the baby from Draco. " I am merely inquiring as to where he is going to go. An orphanage?"

"I wouldn't put it passed them." Ginny spoke quietly.

Hermione looked at the baby, and felt her heart flutter with anxiety. This was the child that connected her to one of her favorite teachers and friends, this was a child whose parents had died just like Harry's and was left alone. He deserved to be with people who loved him not a random family who might not even treat him right, for all any of them knew he could end up under a broom cupboard just like Harry. He looked so innocent with his chubby cheeks, his light green eyes and his pale hair on top of his head. He was precious and while he did look a tad like Lupin and it was a bit painful, how could anyone deny such a beautiful thing such as a baby, she would love to have him if she thought it were possible.

Draco threw his arm across her shoulders. "We will take him." He said quickly, sensing her desire and willing to do whatever it took to give her everything she wanted in this world.

The room went silent and all eyes were on him, even Teddy seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere and turned a giggling head towards the pale haired man next to him. "Draco?" Hermione questioned.

"I love this kid," He said thoughtfully. "And you do too. We have a house, the time and the money. I don't want to see him with another family as much as you don't." He turned to Molly. "If you told his Aunt and Uncle about another family willing to take him what would they say?"

"I don't know." Molly whispered, still shocked by his offer. " They might not let you have him, they are rat-"

"Oh mum hush!" Ginny cut in. "We all know Teddy is one step away from being placed in an orphanage, and I won't let you guys change your plans for your own family to make sure he doesn't end up that way. You know they wouldn't object, they would send all of his stuff here right away; ready to get rid of him as if he were a beast." Ginny spat. "Hermione is great with him, I think its a great idea." Draco cleared his throat. "Yeah you're good with him too." She mumbled, leaning back in his chair.

Hermione was still in awe at the whole situation to even comprehend what Draco just asked for her. Teddy was an easy baby, but she didn't want to burden Draco with the responsibility. She could handle it on her own, she decided. Draco wouldn't have to suffer on her behalf. Hermione glanced up at Molly and looked at her with pleading eyes, this baby belonged with people who knew him and his past and loved him; Molly knew that in her heart, it was written all over her face.

"Alright." She conceded. "You guys can bring him home and I'll write to them of the news." She turned to Draco sternly, "Do you understand what you are doing?"

"Yes." He said.

"I expect you to help out with him. Don't leave it all to Hermione," She let her eyes flick to Hermiones own and back to Draco's. "I know you will want it that way dear but it was Draco's idea he should help out." Molly stood and with a flick of her wand cleared the plates, and went to go grab all of Teddy's things.

Hermione looked up at Draco, swallowing hard. "What did you just do?" She whispered, only so he could hear.

"I made us a family." He said softly, kissing her head before getting up to help Mrs. Weasley with all of Teddy's stuff.

Ginny looked at Hermione smiling. "Are you gonna have him call you mom?"

"No." She replied quickly. "He deserves to know who his real parents are."

"He will Hermione." Ginny said softly, "But he should also feel like he has parents, not just staying with someone. Think about it."

"Yeah." Hermione said zoning out.

This was going to be different, and part of her couldn't decide if she was excited or not for all of this change. She would be lying if she said a little piece of her wasn't, of course she was. Teddy made her feel happy and calm, she would be so busy with him that she wouldn't ever have to think about anything bad ever again and just focus on making him happy. She hoped with all of her heart that Draco wouldn't regret asking for this and resent her for it. She tried to make it so he couldn't sense her feelings but it was too hard for her to do that, she felt very strongly about it and it was something she was passionate about.

There was a tapping at the window that made Hermione jump up to her feet and gasp, feeling very foolish when she saw an elegant white and black owls standing on ledge. Draco was in the room quicker than ever at her sudden noise, and he stood by her and rubbed her sides to comfort her. He knew she felt foolish but he also knew she felt a lot of fear before realizing her mistake.

The owl stepped in, as if superior to those in the room and Draco's calming ministrations ceased as he straightened and eyed the owl. There was a black envelope in its mouth with a silver wax seal of the Malfoy crest. Draco stepped forward and grabbed the letter roughly from the owl, glaring at it the entire time, before ripping the envelope open roughly and his eyes scanning the letter.

"It looks like I have to cut this get together short." Draco sighed. "Father has ended up in 's."

"What's happened?" Hermione questioned, walking over to him.

"Seems dear ol' dad has had a mental break. Tried to off himself this morning." He kissed Hermione's forehead. "I'll be back later."

"No. I'll go with you." She said sternly. " Ginny can I borrow a pair of pants?"

Ginny nodded a quick yes before bolting up the stairs to grab a pair of jeans. Hermione was quite smaller than her so she would have to look for an older pair. Hermione handed Teddy off to Draco, making sure he couldn't go anywhere, before she followed Ginny out of the kitchen and met up with her to slip on the pair of jeans. She was back within a minute, the jeans hugging her frame perfectly, along with a pair of sneakers that Ginny had charmed to fit Hermione.

"Its amazing. I had those when I was thirteen!" Ginny said, almost wistfully. "Alright, you guys keep in touch and let us know what's going on." She gave Hermione a quick squeeze and waved at Draco.

"Red, I gave your mom our new address. She can send Teddy's stuff there. Tell her I said thanks." He gave everyone in the room a nod before heading out into the yard with Hermione.

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you." Draco whispered into her ear.

"For now." Hermione mumbled, waiting for the moment Draco decided she was too much to handle.

"No," he shook his head. "For always."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Hermione hung on with all of her might when she landed in the middle of an alleyway. She had Teddy firmly in her arms and Draco was holding onto her waist, steadying her from the sudden apparition. She looked up at Draco and handed him Teddy before she turned around and started throwing up the little amount of toast she had in her system. The orange juice burned her throat coming back up and her ribs clenched together as her stomach heaved what little was in her system and Draco had the mass of her hair in his hands and out of her face. With her hands on her knees she took a couple gulps of breath and straightened herself out, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She turned and gave him an apologetic look.

"I am an embarrassment to the Wizarding community." She sighed.

"Apparition sucks, I've thrown up plenty of times before from it."

She eyes him up and down, realizing she was a complete slob. She had her hair everywhere, knots still in it from sleep, a plane tank top, a pair of old jeans and dirty sneakers. She looked like crap next to him. He had on a nice pair of black slacks with a white T-shirt that was buttoned only partially and his sleeves rolled up to his elbow, he always looked better than her. It was just a reminder of how different their worlds were.

"Whatever." She mumbled, waiting for him to guide the way but he didn't move. "Can we go?" She huffed.

"No." He stated, rocking Teddy in his arms tenderly.

"Why not?"

"I need you to knock it off." He said, frustrated.

"What did I do?"

"Those thoughts you are having are lies. You look relaxed and comfortable and I like this look for you the best. So get over it. Stop pushing me away." It was a new development in their bond, he could sense her thoughts more than read them but he was certain that if he tried enough he would be able to hear her thoughts in his head with perfect clarity.

"I am not pushing you away and you don't like me like this the best. I remember the way you looked at me on our first date, I was all dolled up thats how you want me to look." She growled, beginning to walk away, but Draco grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him.

"You will stop this nonsense right now Hermione." He warned, angered. He would give anything for her happiness but her bashing herself and pushing him away was not going to solve anything, and he was sick of it. Yes he had changed for her, he had grown kind and dealt with things he normally wouldn't have in a million years for her; but he was still Draco with anger problems and this was pushing it.

"Let go of me right now." She snarled through gritted teeth.

"Stop!" Draco yelled, pulling her wrist so she was right in front of him. "I will not have this happen to us. You will stop pushing me away, you will talk to me and you will understand that I love you. Got it?"

"Or what?" She pushed.

"We are done." He lied.

Hermione released a cold laugh, "You know you can't leave."

"You know I can. We've talked about it. We have mated, we could separate. It would just kill me."

"Which is why you wont leave." She stated, even though she was on the verge of tears.

"Its not like I am very alive around you as it is. I might as well be dead." He hit a nerve, the exact nerve he had wanted to hit. The nerve that made her realize that she was so lost right now that it was as if Draco was dead like all of her friends, and her thinking of him being dead was what was going to bring her back to him.

Hermione's blood went cold and images of Draco's cold and lifeless body went through her mind over and over again. She shook her head to clear it but only for it to be replaced by a bloodier version of Draco, and him looking up at her with those sharp silver eyes void of life. She breathed heavily,reaching for something she didn't realize she had grabbed a hold of. Her hand was clasped firmly at the base of his neck and little black dots threatened to make her lose herself in sorrow.

"I am not dead Hermione, nor will I be. I am here and will remain here; you need to realize that." He brought her to him, kissing her head and cheek as his own tears threatened to fall overboard. "I will never leave. I miss you so much."

"I'm never going to be me girl you miss is dead." She said, her voice distant.

"You will be. It will take time, I've seen traces of your old self. Just let me help you." He felt her head nod in agreement against his chest, and his grip on her tightened. " Why don't we come back tomorrow?"

"No," Hermione sniffled and pulled away. "We came all this way and we are going to see your father."

Draco smiled, seeing the stubborn fire light in her eyes again. He handed Teddy to her and placed his arm protectively around her shoulder as they walked out of the alleyway. They walked a little ways down the street, passing simple minded muggles who had given them warm smiles at their little family; some muttered how cute the baby was as they walked by them even. It made Draco's heart swell with pride.

After two and a half blocks Draco slowed down in front of what looked to be an old condemned department store. The brick red walls were faded some, the title Purge and Dowse Ltd. were in big, faded gold letters above a black door that had the paint cracking. The windows were large with a fine layer of dirt coating them and you could barely make out the mannequins that were within. They donned old fashioned clothes that looked moth eaten, and Hermione watched curiously as Draco leaned casually against the window.

"I am here to see my father." He spoke calmly and assertively. Hermione watched the mannequin nod with agreement, before Draco grabbed her hand and walked her through the wall, reminding her of how she got to the Hogwarts Express.

"You looked mad talking to that mannequin," She laughed. "We were getting strange looks."

"They won't remember." He smirked,guiding her through the halls.

Hermione walked in wonder, the halls were completely silver and white. The floors sparkled with white tile and the walls were silver with spaces for floor to ceiling windows. There was a front desk and a zig zag silver staircase to the left of it that kept going all the way up to the top of the building and let off every now and then for a new floor. There was three lifts to the right of the front desk, filled with Doctors and patients alike who were going to their rooms or to be inspected.

The waiting room had white chairs and were filled with patients and family members, silver tables next to them full of Witch Weekly, the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler were there. There was a charming little child playing section full of toys that were floating away or chasing after the children and a fish tank that kids could look at. Watching closely Hermione saw a little girl stick her hand through the glass of the fish tank and to the water, playing with the fish inside. Hermione thought the set-up rather brilliant, and slightly disgusting with all the bacteria in the water.

"I've never been here before. Its beautiful for a hospital." She sighed, shaking a whimpering Teddy.

Draco nodded in agreement and walked up to the front desk while Hermione looked around for a moment longer, seeing the staircases eventually change direction and she briefly wondered if all large buildings were made in such a way. Then she joined Draco's side, caressing Teddy's cheek and leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Its my father." Draco pleaded.

"I'm sorry Mister Malfoy but I can't give you consent." The man said full of disdain. "Why they let your family go is beyond me." He muttered under his breath.

Hermione perked up and looked at the man behind the desk. It was a tall, lanky man with greasy black hair and a pointy long nose. "Excuse me, I would like to see my soon to be father in law." She stated, straightening up to her full height (All 5'2 of it.)

"Ms. Granger? Oh good heavens I am so sorry. Right away Miss." He said looking very ashamed. He looked through the papers and found Lucius's room number and cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Room 445." he looked up with a smile. "That is on the fourth floor. I am so sorry Miss, if you need anything let me or the staff know and we will assist you."

Hermione nodded and turned to leave but before she did she turned back towards the man with a glare in her eyes, "I will have you know that Draco Malfoy is as guilty as I am."

"I didn't mean to offend Miss. I only meant that he is a Death Eater and they are all lock-"

"Not by choice." Hermione snarled, raising her left arm to reveal her own fading mark. "He aided in the killing of Voldemort, he was along Harry, Ron and my side the entire time. Next time I suggest you realize appearances can be deceiving and you don't know all the facts.

"Yes Miss, of course." He bowed his head full of embarrassment.

"Have a good day." She said, and she meant it but she was quite livid about his behavior towards Draco.

"Have I told you," Draco whispered in her ear, leading her to the stairs, "That I love you?"

"Maybe once or twice." Hermione smiled.

"You were conniving back there. My own little Slytherin." He beamed.

"It seems as though you are rubbing off on me." Hermione giggled lightly.

"See. You will come back to me in no time." He kissed her temple and took Teddy from her.

It seemed they were fighting over who could hold Teddy the longest, they couldn't go very long without holding the little child. It made her smile and forget the anger she held for the man downstairs. Hermione thought that perhaps she could write a book on what really happened in the war and get it out once and for all, it wouldn't work out any other way unless someone had the nerve to actually talk about it and everyone knows that war isn't something people want to talk about and revealing the truth is scary enough in itself.

Releasing a heavy sigh Hermione reached the last step and her foot fell gently on the white tile of the fourth floor, she grabbed Teddy out of Draco's arms laughing at his look of displeasure. But Draco stayed silent and let her kiss his cheeks and blow in his face, she looked happy and if that was the case he was gonna let her do whatever she wanted. There was a sign hanging from the ceiling that said in fat, black and bold letters :Mental Ward.

Hermione flinched knowing that Neville's parents were here on this level due to being under the cruciatus curse for a long period of time, and a shiver ran through her spine knowing she could have ended up here. Then a pang of hurt hit her as she remembered Neville jumping in front of her and Draco, taking the curse that was to be her end. She pictured his dead body in her grasp, how she had shaken his body and hoped he would wake up laughing in his awkward way. She never meant for that to happen, she wasn't even awake for the funeral; to pay her respects for a friend who paid his life for her. Hermione could scream at all the rage and sorrow she felt, but she knew she had to hide it or else people may think that she too was losing her mind. They wouldn't be wrong of course.

She walked passed the main desk on level four, nodding a hello at the women who were standing their dumbstruck; obviously goggling Draco, and continued down the hall. Despite Draco's status and all the confusion women knew he was handsome and they would do anything to get with him, the thought made Hermione angry but she knew that they wouldn't dare cross that line and if they did; well Hermione wasn't exactly above inflicting pain. Okay maybe she was but they would regret it.

Draco kissed her in an act of comfort as they walked down the halls, but Hermione stopped and turned back to the desk quickly. "The Longbottoms?"

"What about them?" The brown haired one asked.

"They are here still, right?"

"Yeah. They are a bunch of loons. One minute they make perfect sense the next they are out the door spewing nonsense."

"What room?"

"Are you family?" She inquired, leaning forward to look Hermione squarely in the eye.

"No. But their son risked his life for me, and they deserve to know that he is dead even if they don't understand. Room. Number. Now."

"That's Hermione Granger," the red head whispered in awe. "Room 493. They are on their morning walk now ma'am."

"Thank you. I'll come back some other time." Hermione didn't know when but she would, when she was ready to face her demons she would come back. She turned around and took Draco's hand in hers, he felt rather proud of how far she had come today; he half expected her to break down the second her foot touched the memory ward.

They strolled in silence until reaching the room that had Lucius Malfoy written underneath plaque that read 445. Draco knocked once before touching the cold knob and turning the door, entering. Narcissa sat stiffly in a chair next to the hospital bed, holding Lucius's hand that was strapped down to the side of the bed. Her face didn't show signs of sadness but rather plain old distress as she eyed her husband.

"Mother." Draco swooped in and gave her cheek a kiss. He was quite the mama's boy although he would never admit such words out loud. "How did this happen?"

"I found him drinking poison in his study Draco." She whispered. "I never knew it would have been possible. He has been quite changed since the Dark Lords death."

" people attempt to kill themselves daily, its their own personal demons and there is nothing you could have done to prevented it. You mustn't blame yourself."

Hermione wouldn't ever have thought that she would have gotten along with Draco's mother but she did; almost as if she were her own. They talked about things like literature and politics, things she would have talked about with her own mother if she had known where she was. They never got personal with each other, just talked about the meaning of certain books, the authors and what they must have been thinking. They didn't know anything about each other but there was an understanding and they actually got on quite well. They even smiled at each other, which was weird in itself.

"That's not it dear," She sighed, eyeing the bundle in Hermione's arms. "It should be impossible for him to do such a thing."

"Why?"

"My father has Veela blood," Draco explained. "His reason for living is my mother, he would never desire to leave her no matter how miserable he was on earth. He has her and thats his whole existence. For him to go and try to kill himself doesn't make sense whatsoever."

" It has to be Dark magic." Narcissa said dully. She was done with all of this nonsense by now, she had lived with it for years and had wanted it behind her so badly.

"You can stop talking about me, I am right here." Lucius's voice cut through the soft silence, it was without malice and when his eyes opened he didn't look at Hermione with hatred for once. He looked kind. They had gotten along better too, not arguing every other second over blood purity and nodding simple hello's in the mornings but in the past two weeks she had not seen him around the house, something must have been up and she felt foolish for not noticing.

"How are you feeling dear?" Narcissa questioned.

"Like I got knocked off of my broom by a dragon." He groaned sitting up. "I am not sure whats happened, nor do I care to know at the moment." Then he laughed and looked at Hermione and the little thing in her arms. "Is that my grandson? Draco you didn't tell me you and Hermione had procreated. Bring him here!" He said with glee.

It was slightly obvious that Hermione and Draco hadn't gotten pregnant, as was Veela law that they couldn't until they married and they weren't even engaged. And Teddy was already four months along, Hermione would have had to have been pregnant around July of last year and her and Draco weren't even speaking back then. But he looked so happy Hermione couldn't bring it to herself to break the news to him. Just as Draco was about to she stepped forward and sat on the bed with Teddy, setting him on Lucius's lap. Draco looked at her compassion and was frozen by what was going to transpire next.

"You did a wonderful job dear girl." He held her cheek in one hand before tickling the baby's stomach. "You'll have to forgive me but I do not recall his name."

"Edward. Edward Lucius Malfoy. But you've called him Teddy since he was little." She said softly, her hand resting on his thigh. "Here." Hermione reached over and unbound his hands so he could hold Teddy properly.

Teddy giggled at Lucius, his little fists grabbing his hair and playing with it. "Look at that, he likes his papa."

Hermione looked at the old man carefully. He didn't look like the elder Malfoy that she was used to seeing. He didn't have the angry lines around his eyes, or the clean shaven face. He looked happy and as if he was in his own world, Hermione wondered if this is what he would have been like had he not taken the mark and gotten himself wrapped up into this. She looked at Draco and saw that he had tears in his eyes, no doubt feeling the sorrow of never having a father like the one in this bed in his life before. Hermione almost felt guilty, but the man was obviously loony. Something hadn't clicked with the man in front of her and Hermione felt that if he had not gotten to see his 'grandson' he would have broken into a sobbing mess.

"He looks just like Draco." He laughed. "Has your eyes though Hermione." That was the first time he had ever used her name, he had referred to her as many things. All the way from Mudblood to an It, but he had never actually spoken of her like a human being and when they had decided to coexist he didn't even call her anything, she was just always there. Hermione only saw Lupin in Teddy and wondered what Lucius saw instead.

"Could I hold him?" Narcissa asked Lucius,standing up and leaning over. "Just for a moment."

Lucius looked at his wife and kissed her cheek before handing her the baby, the room was quite shocked at the open display of affection; Narcissa herself was surprised. Not that she disliked it, she loved it, it had just been a long time since he had shown his love so openly for her in front of people. She sat back on the chair smiling, and rather liking the man in front of her right now, it was the old Lucius, the one she had married so long ago when they had first fallen in love. Not that they weren't now, but dark times caused a vast distance between the two.

"Father." Draco cleared his throat. "Do you know where you are?"

"St. Mungo's of course." He said.

"Do you know why?"

He sat still for a moment, thoughtfully and Hermione watched as something dark gleamed behind his eyes. He shook his head refocusing but the dark gleam kept coming back, his eyes searched the room as if looking for something. Then his eyes landed on Hermione, full of sorrow and confusion.

"It's you." He whispered.

"What?" Draco said, taking a small step forward.

"She is the carrier. She will do the evil bidding."Lucius closed his eyes tightly. "Not on purpose. Not on purpose. Not on purpose!" He shook his head vigorously, getting more wound up, his eyes snapped open and locked onto Hermione's. "Who knows what's going to happen to you." Then he laughed, loud and sinister, before he suddenly yelled with all the force in his body. "Evil will return!"

Lucius snatched out his arm and took hold of her left forearm, covering the Dark Mark with a cold hand that soon burned. Hermione shook her arm, trying to get free before she started screaming. Memories burned her alive, she felt Voldemort's grip on her arm again as he cursed her to kill her friends, she remembered the burning she felt when she had taken the Dark Mark. She closed her eyes against the memories, against Lucius's nails digging into her arm, breaking the skin. She vaguely felt Draco try to peel his father's fingers off of her but it was no use. She let out a final scream before she felt the release of Lucius's grip on her arm, the force she was using to pull herself away from him turned on her as she flung backwards and her head cracked against the cool tile. Darkness enveloped her as the words 'Evil will return' played in her head.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Soft. Soft fabric was the first thing that welcomed Hermione, next was the presence of bodies swarming around her quietly. She heard thing open and close, things being set down and the sound of multiple footsteps surround her. There were soft whispers of words she couldn't quite make out, and soft replies that followed. She opened one eye, seeing some sun interrupt the comfortable darkness she had and promptly closed them. She shifted her body ever so slightly, feeling the edge of the surface she was on and the solid back of it behind her, coming to the conclusions she was one a sofa. A leather one to be exact, she thought as she took a deep sniff through her nose and smelled the new leather that was cool against her cheek. A feeling of nausea rushed over her body as she breathed, she felt it swim up her body until she leaned over the couch and threw up, groaning as acid burned against her throat, and she was slightly aware of a trash can right next to her face.

"Is she up?" Someone called from a far distance away.

"She's been getting up and throwing up for days only to pass back out." A female said, someone that sounded a lot like Ginny.

Hermione opened both eyes and held herself up against the trash bin while she dry heaved the the nausea away. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the white ceiling before she thought about closing her eyes once more. Days. It echoed in her ear, Ginny sounded concerned. But surely a few more hours of shut eye wouldn't affect anyone. She reached out her hand over the side of the couch, feeling a cold floor touch her knuckles. She shut her eyes but couldn't will herself to fall asleep despite the exhaustion.

Then she remembered. Lucius's crazed eyes, his firm grip, her arm burning, Voldemorts face flashing before her. She heard herself screaming for him to let go, screaming to hold off the scary memories, screaming from pain. Merlin she was so scared. She was scared now. She wanted Draco. Her throat was dry, her lips felt cracked but she tried to speak and willed her eyes to open. No one seemed to notice her, they moved about doing whatever they were doing before. Did they think she was going to die? Had they given up on her? Where was everyone anyway?

Flashes of dead bodies surrounded her vision, blood and lights passed by and she watched as bodies crumbled in front of her. She began shaking, as she saw herself reach for people, to awaken them. But it wasn't real, it was her imagination wasn't it? She wasn't in that place of death and horror, she had been before, yes she had lived it but that wasn't where she was at now and that wasn't how events had panned out. She tried speaking again, a small groan escaping her lips. Taking a deep breath and using all the strength she felt she could muster in her stiff state she screamed as loud as she could.

"Draco!" She said it over and over again, wanting him to take her from this place, wanting to feel him next to her. She opened her eyes, water free falling down her sad cheeks, and then she felt a pair of arms lift her up into the air and against their chest. She inhaled deeply and recognized the deep amber smell that belonged to Draco.

"Dammit you!" He chuckled, not in humor but full of relief. "Stop scaring me."

She stopped her shouting and forced herself to sit up on his lap, her eyes looking at his blurry face. "What happened?" She whispered.

"We don't know yet, love. But you are safe now, thats what matters." He hugged her to his chest tightly.

Hermione looked over his shoulder and saw people standing around, familiar faces full of relieved smiles as they looked at the two on the couch. She scooted off of Draco's lap, stepping on her feet shakily and holding onto him for support. "How long was I asleep?"

"Four days." He said, disgusted.

"Did I miss anything?" She panicked. "Where are we?"

"No. We are at our new home. We hoped we would have had it set up before you woke but I am glad you are up nonetheless."

"Yeah," Hermione whispered, stepping away from the couch and around some boxes.

Hermione smiled at the clutter around the new home, boxes decorated the granite counter tops in the kitchen; filling every open space including the island, there were even boxes on the black stools that surrounded the island. The dark mahogany cupboards, that matched perfectly with the hardwood floors and the banners of the staircase, were open and partially filled with an assortment of dishware. The living room seemed to be even worse, the only place you could clearly was the black leather sofa she had resided on only moments before. There some nice grey chairs with high backs, a couple of red blankets thrown across them along with some more boxes piled high.

She was highly pleased when she looked at the stone fireplace that traveled all the way up the wall and to the high ceilings and saw two bookshelves on each side that were littered with knick knacks and books that were on their side. She walked towards the entryway to admire the dining room, it was filled with light from the large open windows; the sun shining through kissing the black table and creating a shine throughout the room. She peered through the archway on the opposite side of the wall and recognized what would become an office, something she was going to have to take a look at later. She turned back and walked towards the living room, sighing with happiness as she stared at Draco leaning casually against the railing of the staircase.

"This must have cost a fortune." She whispered, glancing up the two level staircase that led to a balcony that overlooked the living room.

"You are worth it. Want to take a look upstairs?"

"Sure," She smiled, following Draco up the glossy wooden steps.

Reaching the top of the steps you could go in two different directions, straight; which led to a small hall with a set of french doors as the end, and to the left; which led to a hall full of doors on each side. Draco guided her straight, opening the doors with a grand gesture, and she was welcomed with plush carpet that looked as fresh as snow.

The room took her breath away. For starters it was at least double the size of the living room, and she was greeted by floor to ceiling windows that were covered up with silky golden drapes that flowed down like a waterfall. The ivory walls pulled together the gold and black in a perfect elegant feel. This was the only room that was clean, with everything in place, all the way from the black couch in the corner that was donned with golden pillows to the bed that was large and neatly made. The comforter was black as well, but the pillows were gold; obviously the couch and bed were a set along with the matching bedside tables. A foot away from each of the tables were black doors, that proved that the house seemed to keep going on and on forever.

"The door closest to the couch is the closet. The door right here," He said pointing to his right, "Is the bathroom"

He opened the door for her to walk in, and she was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with the familiar look of his bathroom back in the manor with minor changes. Instead of the tub just being against the wall it was in its own little cocoon of an area, with a half circled window above it.. The bathroom looked the same though, apart from that. The familiar black bowl with golden flecks for the sink, the sparkling tile and large glass shower. She smiled, they had many memories in his bathroom.

"I couldn't help but want to have the bathroom the same, I had it redone. It was the first time you told me you loved me and sometimes memories of certain rooms should be kept. Its those special memories that I didn't want to part with and this was my way of keeping it if that makes any sense.I can walk in here and remember." He said in a rush.

"I understand." She looked up and smiled at him.

"Want to see Teddy's room?"

Hermione nodded eagerly and followed Draco out of the room and down the hall to which they came and went down another hall with multiple doors on each side. "The door right here," Draco pointed to the first door on the right. "This is the laundry room, the door next to it is a bathroom. These three doors on the left are all rooms with nothing yet, except one, which is Teddy's room."

Hermione nodded in understanding and looked at a door that was located where two sides of a wall should have met. "What's that?"

"A surprise." Draco said, with a wiggle of his eyebrows before opening up the room that belonged to Teddy.

He gave his arm a grand gesture that encouraged her to step in before him, to which she did and was happy to see what she saw. There was a window bench that outlooked onto the front yard of the happy neighborhood, with white curtains that flowed beautifully in the slightest breeze. On either side of that window bench were brown bookshelves that had yet to find books for them, but the bottom two shelves had woven baskets full of toys. There was a long brown dresser that was full of Teddy's clothes, a white crib with a blue blanket hanging over the side and a changing station that was already set with diapers and wipes. The room was a light yellow that radiated happiness.

"Its not quite done yet, but its a start." Draco said proudly.

"Its perfect." She said, walking over the window and looking at the bright green grass below. Draco walked up behind her, his arms snaking around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"If there is anything you want to change say the word and its done."

"No. Its absolutely wonderful. I might get wooden letters that spell Teddy's name and paint them, then we can hang them above his crib or something. Mark this as his room." She sighed happily.

"It sounds good. Which reminds me, his aunt and uncle gave up all rights to Teddy, he belongs to no one right now. I was wondering what your feelings would be on adopting him? We would be his legal guardians, if you are up for it."

Hermione turned around in his embrace, her big doe eyes seeking his molten silver and her own arms wrapping around him. "I admit I love the idea. But I don't want to have you do something you will regret, and I don't want there to be any pressure."

"Its not. It was my idea to adopt Teddy. You can think about it for a few days, there is no rush. Are you ready to see your surprise?"

"Sure." Hermione sighed, walking out of the room and following Draco down the remainder of the hall to the oddly placed door. She opened it before he could and was greeted with quite the sight.

It was a circular room, with a spiral staircase off to the side that went up and down what appeared to be a tower. And Hermione let a bubble of excited laughter escape her throat as she recognized the room as Draco's personal library back at the manor. She loved the little touches of their old home being in their new home, the places that held the best memories and it made her swell up with joy seeing this room. She looked at the rug that had the black sofa sitting on top if it right in front of the fireplace.

"We made love right there." Hermione sighed wistfully. "Well not there but, you know what I mean," She stammered a light blush coating her cheeks.

"Actually you are right. This is the actual tower, half of it at least, that I had taken from the Manor and added on to the section of the house. The exterior matches the one of the house and you would have never guess I didn't replicate it unless I told you." He replied smugly.

"Aren't you full of surprises today." She giggled. She turned and walked out of the room, Draco followed behind her closing the door.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Tired. All the excitement." She said softly.

"Why don't you go get some rest and I can help the others finish unpacking?"

"Yeah," She said, heading to their new bedroom. "Where's Teddy? I would like to see him."

"He will be back later, is watching him while we work on moving." he reached for her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Get some rest."

She nodded and made her way through the french doors before she plopped herself on the couch. It was very comfy, and she liked that it wasn't leather but was plush and full. She wrapped the throw blanket around her and snuggled deeper against the fluff. What a crazy day already and she had only been up for a half hour. It was insane how much things changed, they had Teddy now and a new home; they were trying to start over but she couldn't. There was a dark blanket that was surrounding her every second of everyday, the little moments of happiness she had were when she had come up from the covers for taste of fresh air. But the rest of the time she was building walls to ignore it, even though she knew it was always there.

And then she remembered the events at 's. She hadn't recognized Lucius's without his snarl and the darkness in his eyes. He looked so proud when he had seen Teddy, so happy to finally be a grandpa and the weirdest thing is that he was really good with him. Draco's face broke her heart because it was like he wondered where that man was his entire life and why couldn't he have experienced it before. But then, within a breaths moment, it all changed. He had grabbed her arm, right across the dark mark, and it burned and hurt her just like when she had received the mark; but with a glance it looked normal like the burning was all in her head.

But it wasn't, Lucius's voice rang through her mind, 'Evil will return'. He didn't look pleased about that, not sick and twisted like before, he looked scared. He was truly scared of something and that terrified her, it made her wonder what was going on in his mind; and then for him to try and kill himself was out unheard of. Draco told her he was a Veela, while she had remembered him saying so before it seemed like it was ages ago by now. She knew that he wasn't suppose to even be able to think of killing himself, it was supposed to be impossible. Perhaps the mark was poisoning his mind, after all the years of being under such a dark force it didn't seem like an unreasonable conclusion, sometimes dark times make people snap.

The tile floor was cold beneath Hermione's feet as she shuffled her way through the abandoned hall. Doors lined the walls in endless rows, pale lights illuminating the hall into a blinding light. She took a deep inhale of breath and smelled the familiar scent of different ingredients that a potions healer would use, and then it dawned on her that she was in 's. Although it wasn't as busy as what it was the other day, and she wondered if Draco was somewhere around here.

Hermione kept walking, finding herself drawing near a certain room; as she got closer she peeped inside hoping to find Draco within. She pushed the door open with a hand, glancing around the entirety of the room; noticing two beds. Peeking around the door she jumped startled for a moment as she saw two lanky figures that looked an awful lot like a friend she used to know.

She recognized them a moment later, it was Neville's parents. They were standing in the corner of the room behind the door, their hands clasped with dark circles under their eyes. They looked deathly ill in their paleness, and when their eyes locked on hers they were voice of any emotion. Hermione knew now was the only time to tell them the news of their son, even if they didn't understand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," Hermione whispered, feeling the familiar lump form in her throat. "You may not know this, but your son; Neville, he died." She swallowed hard for a second and regained her courage. "You should know, and above all else you should know that he died a hero. If not for him I would be dead and I know that in no way justifies it, but you should know that he didn't die in vain and I am grateful to him."

They didn't move, Hermione didn't expect a response she just needed to get it off of her chest or else she might explode. She nodded at them gratefully and began to turn away when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned, bracing herself for anger and for hysterics, but she saw Mrs. Longbottom with crazed eyes instead; her whole body shaking as if moving took all the energy she had in her and she was using whatever was left to touch Hermione.

"Run." She said in a hoarse whisper. "Run as fast as you can."

Hermione didn't know what compelled her, but she did as she was told and took off in a sprint. She went back the way she came, checking behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed. As she passed each door and went further down the hall the lights behind her went out, slowly encasing her in the darkness. As each light went off the amount of panic rose inside of her chest, but the hall was never ending and she didn't know how much longer she could run until she was too exhausted or the darkness caught up to her.

And just as she felt that she couldn't keep going she felt a pair of arms snatch out and grab her, yanking her through a doorway; the door slamming with a resounding click. She turned to see her savior, her mouth open in surprise. Lucius stood there, well groomed and serious as always in his black suit.

"Mr. Malfoy," She said through gasping breaths. "We have to leave. We have to go!" She pulled on his sleeves eager to save the both of them. But he didn't budge. Instead his long and pale fingers wrapped around her wrist.

" ," His voice was like silk."You have come at the most opportune time imaginable. I feared I would have to hunt you down myself."

Her forearm started to warm up, heating up to a blistering point and then it felt like her flesh was melting, she could smell the burnt flesh; it was like rotten meat. She jerked away a couple of times before she felt his hand release her and send her to the ground. She looked up at him through long, damp eyelashes. She hadn't realized that she was crying.

"The seed is planted." He said, his eyes having an evil glint behind the pupil.

"Wha-"

"It must be destroyed!" And in an instant Lucius changed. She had blinked and it was like he was different suddenly. His hair became messy, his face covered in a layer of stubble and his eyes filled with dark shadows and traces of tears. He looked fearful. "I am sorry it has to be this way."

Hermione caught a glimpse of something silver behind his back, and jumped away; attempting to scramble to her feet when he pulled a knife that was all too familiar to her. It was was the same knife that Bellatrix had used to carve into her once perfect skin; the knife that had killed Dobby. It was the knife that was going to ruin everything.

Lucius raised up a hand, the knife shaking with nerves, the light shimmering off of the silver blade with each movement. It looked like he had second guessed himself but with a final resolved look he swung down the knife, it plunging into her heart, and she screamed in protesting pain.

"Hermione!"

She could hear someone in the distance and slowly brought herself out of sleep, her eyes adjusting to the new room; surprised at how dimly lit it was. Then the next this she grasped was a pair of hands on her arms, stroking her softly, and lips peppering kisses all over her. "Draco?" she sighed, not quite awake.

"I'm here love."

Hermione reached her arms out sleepily and hugged him to her in a daze, "You smell nice." Then she felt herself fade back into unconsciousness, Lucius's face flashing through her mind quickly, his hand grasping her arm, the smell of burning skin reaching her nostrils, and then the knife stabbing her. Hermione put her hand up to stop the blade from piercing her chest, screaming when it went through her hand.

Draco shook her, questioning why her hand was extended out in front of her. He jumped when she started screaming and he shouted himself when blood spurted out of her hand by an invisible force. And next thing he knew her eyes popped open and she released a gargled breath, gripping her chest. Draco removed the blanket off of her, her precious blood spilled out of her chest from a wound that had not been there moments ago. Draco whipped out his wand and healed her before his mind even processed what was going on.

Hermione's whimper filled his ears and his Veela whined in protest against her pain. Her scent came back to him stronger than it was and he was relieved, albeit terrified at the sudden events. He gently covered her mouth with his hand to stifle her noises and listen for anyone who might be in the house; see if he could hear different sounds and footstep patterns than the friends who were already helping out. Nothing was amiss. He moved his hand to her cheek, caressing it lovingly. That was without a doubt the scariest thing he'd ever seen, she had been attacked by something they couldn't see and it had physically harmed her. How was he to protect her from that? His Veela instincts were going crazy with the need to help her and protect her and assure that no matter what she was safe. At least for now she was going to be alright, he just needed to take a deep breath. Inhaling to catch her scent he realized it wasn't strong like it should have been.

Hermione was still whimpering, and it took Draco a second to realize that she was cradling her arm. "What's happening to me?" She whispered, looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

"I don't know love, I don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Draco brought Hermione downstairs immediately after, she was too shaken to walk and he didn't mind scooping her into his arms and bringing her down; he needed to feel her close and to feel her heart beat against his skin. He set her on the couch flinching when the room went into concerned chaos when they saw the blood on her shirt and on his face. Harry had just come out of the bathroom and at the sight he ran towards Hermione, stopping when Draco released a protective growl.

"What the hell happened?" Harry questioned, backing away slowly.

"She was attacked in her sleep." Draco sighed, frustrated.

"What do you mean?" Ginny whispered. "What about the wards you put up?"

"There was nothing in the room!" He shouted. "The wards weren't breached! I have no idea what the hell happened but look at this." He grabbed Hermione's arm gently and showed them all the blistering flesh that was in the shape of a hand, then began healing it. "It was the same thing that was on her hard four days ago, except this was much worse."

"What could be bloody worse." Ron mumbled.

Hermione spoke up in a soft voice, she retold her nightmare. Accept that it wasn't like a nightmare. It felt too real and the Longbottoms had warned her to run as if they knew, they had encouraged her to leave as quickly as she could and she tried. Merlin knows she tried to run, but the halls stretched on forever and the closer she thought she got to escaping it extended; which made it become a nightmare again. It was like it was going back and forth from reality to dream. She told them about Lucius, how he had changed from being so perfect to being haggard and afraid of the 'seed being planted' that he felt there was no choice but to kill her. And then the dream turned back to reality because she had been wounded in her sleep and it had happened in real life. No one had any words of wisdom for her, she didn't know this was possible and no one else did either. It shouldn't have been and that's what got her the most, she didn't mind the wounds; it was the not knowing.

"If we don't know what is going on then what are we going to do?" Hermione asked, looking around the room.

"Move." Draco said.

"No." She said sadly. "This is a perfect house and i don't want to leave it. I have yet to be conscious in this house for a whole day but I already love it." She stood up, not backing down on her decision. "Whatever this is, we are going to put it on the back burner. We will study and figure something out, its not just going to go away if we move Draco and you know that. We will get through this but right now I just want to pretend things are not for once, even if its just for a little bit."

Draco looked at her, his mouth twitching like he was going to argue. And he wanted to, he wanted to tell her to sit down and shut up; the part of him that was still very ill tempered wanted to yell and her and be angry at her because she didn't understand how he felt about not being able to keep her safe from something he couldn't see. Draco felt that her idea to stay here, in this house that had already been tainted with a bad memory, was ridiculous; but she was right that it wouldn't just go away and this was the first time since the end of the war that she had spoken on what she wanted. He felt it was truly what she wished for and he wasn't going to take that away from her, he couldn't. The idea of ruining any ounce of happiness she could get hurt him and he would never do it; not ever.

"Fine." He said reluctantly. "Its late and we need to clean ourselves up. You all should go home, we will discuss this more later. Thank you for all your help." He said, walking over and holding his hand out to Potter to shake. Harry did, Ron nodded at him and Ginny surprised them all when she got up on her toes and hugged him.

"Protect her." She whispered , quietly enough so he could hear, before pulling away and heading out with her arm tucked in the crook of Harry's arm, saying a quick goodbye to Hermione.

He turned to see Hermione turned away from everyone and staring at the bookshelves by the fireplace, organizing her little knickknacks and pursuing through the selection. He smiled when she nodded in approval at a title or when she mumbled that she was going to have to put that on her reading list. Distraction was evidently key for her to keep moving on and living. It wouldn't be too hard to distract her, a lot had to be done in the house to still get ready and Teddy would be living with them; she would be kept plenty busy if he had any say in it. But Draco wondered how long it would be until she broke down and distractions weren't enough.

"Come here." He whispered.

Hermione turned towards him confused, "Why?"

"I want to hold you."

"That was rather blunt of you." She commented.

"Its what I want."

Hermione walked over to him with a heavy sigh, she didn't want him to touch her. It shouldn't be normal for her to feel that way with their bond, but theirs was special and different was it not? All the books she read, even if some of the information was untrue like the spoiling bond, taught her that they were able to want distance. At least that's what she told herself. She really wanted to just throw herself at him, but she didn't trust herself around Draco. She didn't trust that her strength would maintain, he had been her protector and comforter and she was depended on him for everything and she couldn't allow herself to be like that. Mentally she put up the walls before she wrapped her arms around his torso then she pulled away as quickly as she had touched him.

"Well it looks like the house is practically done, apart from some items that I would like to move around. When did you say Teddy would be back.?"

"Soon. Can I have a kiss?"

"No." She blurted.

"Why not?" He sighed, his Veela whining inside him and feeling rejection stab into his heart.

"I haven't brushed my teeth and I threw up earlier and its gross and all of that." She made up quickly in a joking tone that was meant to ease the situation.

"Is that so?" He asked, slyly, hoping he could draw her to him.

Just as he was about to take a step towards her, Hermione felt her stomach lurch and she ran passed the couch and into the kitchen; throwing up what little contents she had in her stomach. It was mainly acid that burned her nose and throat since she had not had any food or liquid for quite some time. She heaved, one hand clutching her stomach, the other hand with the palm flat against the cold granite as if bracing herself. Only a little bit came out of her before she turned on the faucet to rinse out the sink and dipped her mouth under the flow of cool water to swish the taste out. She spit and went back under the stream, the icy liquid soothing her throat and settling her stomach.

"You've been doing that for days." Draco sighed. "The dark magic that my father exposed to you is reacting horribly with your body."

"Dark magic can do that? Hermione questioned, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Oh yes. It was the same for me when I was exposed to the cruciatus curse. It was cast for so long at one time that I had fallen dreadfully ill for a week. I was so tired and sick my mother thought I was going to die for sure from exposure. It'll pass soon." He said, rubbing her back comfortingly. "I am going to guess that you aren't hungry."

"I am actually." Hermione chuckled."Something light would be best though."

"Toast?"

"Can you even made toast?" She questioned, taking a look at his offended face before she keeled over in laughter. "I'm sorry that was mean." But it was clear she wasn't at all sorry, Draco was just glad to hear her laugh."

"For your information I can fook toast. Its that white machine and you just push down the lever after you plug it into the magic source."

Hermione bit her lip, trying not to laugh at his confidence. "You mean the electrical source."

"Same thing." He muttered, going over to the counter space and pulling out a slice of bread and popping it into the toaster. He angled his body ever so slightly so that Hermione wouldn't be able to see that he was still trying to completely understand this contraption, even though it was easy he wanted to be sure he got everything correct. Harry had told him cooking was a lot like potions, you had to have ingredients and do things a certain way but with the muggleware things got simplified, if you knew how to use it that is.

He turned around with a smirk on his face, welcoming the lightness in the air. "See."

"Indeed." She said, jumping when the sound of the floo network disrupted the quiet. She turned around relieved when stepped out with Teddy who was giggle away at the fun of the journey. "Good heavens Molly you frightened me!" She laughed, running over and scooping Teddy into her arms.

"Oh Hermione dear I am so glad you are awake! Merlins beard what happened to your clothes?" She gasped, her eyes falling on the blood.

"Long story. Harry will fill you in if you ask him." Hermione muttered.

Molly, with her motherly instincts, sensed that Hermione was more on edge than usual and decided to drop it. "Right. Well I am glad you are awake dear, put us through quite a fright. Teddy's all fed and cleaned up. Owl if you need anything."

"I will. thank you." Hermione smiled at the friendly old witch and watched her disappear in the green flame.

"Hey little guy." Draco said, coming over and kissing his little mass of brown hair.

Hermione watched amazed when Teddy's hair went straight to platinum blonde once when Draco's lips touched his head. Teddy placed a small hand on Draco's cheek and put on on Hermione's, then he closed his eyes tightly like he was trying to pass gas; and his hair slowly turned into curly blonde silk. He released a giggle before he opened his eyes, the normally green eyes now gone and replaced with one blue grey eye and one carmel eye. Hermione looked at Draco who looked equally surprised and proud. He took Teddy into his arms and spun in a circle.

"Good show mate!" He said. "You'll get the eyes next time."

"I've never seen anything like that before. He's only a couple months and he is developing quickly."

"Its a good thing. He can learn how to control it better if he starts young, little risky but I know a potion that we can make to put in his bottle before going into public."

"How would you know that?"

"It suppresses magic ability, they give it to kids who can't control their magic or abuse it at a young age. My mother gave it to me when I was little, I was quite the mischievous little bugger."

"Of course you were." Hermione said, grabbing Teddy from him. "Its time for bed little guy."

She kissed his cheek and wandered up the stairs leaving Draco in the kitchen to stare after her. Hermione opened the door to Teddy's room and flicked on the light before setting him into his crib. He was grabbing at his little feet and making incoherent baby noises that made Hermione smile. "You're parents would be so proud of you, and you will be so proud of them. They are hero's. They fought to give you the life you have now, you may be angry and not understand right away but you will one day. And I hope that one day you can accept me as your mother. Sleep well." She leaned over and kissed his head before heading out of the room and back to the kitchen where the smell of burnt toast welcomed her.

"Don't look." Draco said.

"I can spell it you know." She chuckled, moving next to him. "Wash the blood off of your face. You'd scare anyone that came in."

"Maybe that's the plan."

"Whatever." Hermione grabbed the burnt toast and threw it in the trash before heading upstairs to their bedroom. She noticed Draco follow her but she tried to ignore him.

Hermione wished she could figure out what was going on with her, straighten out the jigsaw inside of her head. She knew she was acting strange, it was normal to grieve. To shut off from the world and process what had happened after loved ones died, then you add all the trauma that went with it; it wasn't hard to ignore their bond. But Hermione could feel the love there inside of her, even if she was intent on ignoring it. She didn't know what else to do, she didn't want to change anything right now, everything she had seen and done was now hovering over her and reminding her that the people who died were the ones who should have been alive the ones who were worthy of living.

Hermione dug through the closet and built in drawers pulling out a pair of flannel pants and a white T-shirt before she turned around, walked past Draco, and went into the bathroom closing the door behind her without another word. Actions like that are what stumped her. She felt guilty about it before, during and after yet she didn't stop herself. She turned the shower on and stepped into the steaming spray, leaning her head against the cold tile she allowed the agony to flood in behind her closed eyelids.

The emptiness consumed her and ate her very being. The people she had grown up with, all of her friends and those she considered family were dead. They were buried in the ground never able to have children, get married or see that they did not die in vain. They would never see what the Wizarding world was coming to now because they were all dead. She couldn't ever hug them again, thank Neville for volunteering his life for hers; or tell them she is sorry that they were robbed of the chance to live a life that they fought for. And then she remembered the torture, it felt so real. The physical and emotional torture threatened to choke her now. The pure fire that coursed through her veins, the embarrassment of being seen at her weakest moment; a mudblood in the ground and coated in her own essence of life like what she deserved. Not having her parents to help her through this, she didn't even know where they were and the fact that she made the decision to take their memories; no matter how true her intentions had been, made her feel guilty and lonely.

It was all taking a toll on her and now she had to deal with her choices along with everything that was going on. All of her emotional confusions right now along with the mystery of Lucius's sudden behavior. How could he try to kill himself, how could he try and kill her? Her getting attacked by something she couldn't see scared her to pieces. Yet she had a contradictory mind playing games on her. She wanted to die, she had overwhelming guilt that she was alive while people she loved were dead; she thought it should have been her instead, especially since 'her kind' were a contributing factor for the start of the war. She couldn't see the point of living, the colors were duller and happy moments were bland. But apart of her, deep down, wanted to live and wouldn't give up. No matter how stressful this new problem was for her.

Hermione felt Drao enter the shower with her, she didn't turn to see him because she didn't want to. She didn't want to see the sympathy, love and need in his eyes. She was being unfair to him, she wasn't who he fell in love with and she would feel too guilty looking at him now because she knew she wouldn't be that girl again. She had to shove him as far away as possible from her thoughts and feelings, she knew that he was able to read her a lot better than he used to; before he would just sense it but now he was getting rather good and she needed to shield herself.

Draco reached for her shoulders and pulled her towards his firm chest, resting his chin on the crook of her neck and cradling her body against his. Hermione felt herself cave into him, ever so slightly, until she was leaning against his chest in a relaxed position, the hot water spraying over their forms.

"I need you to stop this." Draco whispered softly, holding her closer when her body stiffened at his voice. "I want you to give into the happiness you feel instead of fighting it off because you think you deserve to be so miserable. I need you to understand that I need you, without you people would be sad and I would be dead." Draco turned her around so she could face him, his eyes locking to hers. "I love you and I need you."

Hermione's heart fluttered nervously in her chest and his words, she knew it was hard for him to open up and talk to her. It was hard for Draco to do emotions on general and yet he was a Veela, a being whose whole make up was a clump of different emotions. She understood what he meant by her allowing the happiness in, she knew she fought it off it was her defense. And when she looked into his piercing silver eyes she wanted to just melt into him; she wanted to drop everything inside her mind and allow him in. He was her happiness, she knew that because they were made for each other but when he leaned in to kiss her, Hermione turned her head regretfully to the side and allowed him to only kiss her cheek.

Draco sighed and nuzzled her neck with his nose inhaling her delicate scent and savoring it. "It'll all be okay."


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: Its been a long time and I can't guarentee that this chapter will be the greatest. I just needed to get something up and I am hoping that if I keep writing and posting that I will get through the writers block and the funk that I am in. I am sorry if its not up to your expectations but I hope you enjoy it and thank you for sticking around with me.

Chapter 5:

Draco awoke suddenly to a loud noise, he reached across the bed for Hermione to pull her closer to him only to discover that she wasn't next to him. He sprung from the bed, his feet landing on the plush carpet, and he listened intently for any further disturbances in the night. He heard more banging, and what sounded to be whimpering coming from the bathroom. He slowly headed towards the door, twisting the golden handle he opened it and found his mate sitting on the floor in a crying heap. Her legs were folded together, one hand covered her eyes as tears poured out and one hand pressed against the floor to support her. Draco debating going over to her and holding her, or exiting the bathroom like the coward that he had been known for.

Normal cicumstances told him to go comfort her, it was his calling as a Veela and his duty. BUt things changed within these last months. She had pulled away from him more and more, had angry bursts. These last couple of weeks had been tense and while they weren't arguing they weren't exactly getting along either, Hermione was only being civil enough to talk about Teddy but other than that any other topics of discussion were off limits. She had even gone as far as to take drastic measures so she didn't touch him, like going to bed last or walking around the entriety of the table insdead of sliding passed him. He didn't know if she would accept his help or if she would have a sudden fit. He had been giving her the space she had required but the sound of his mates cries were ripping him apart inside, he had known she was feeling awful but she had yet to let those walls down and reveal her true feelings until he had just now caught her completely lost in her greif.

As if by magnetic force his feet shuffled foreward until he was sitting right beside her, not daring to touch her, but close enough that he could feel her body heat. Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide, startled to be found in such a state; but with all the noise she had been making what did she expect? Her face went through various stages: Agony, to shock, to ebarassment and then finally settled with anger. Her face was full of angry red splotches and tears that had escaped from their finally concealed ducts; but it didn't stop her from slapping Draco as hard as she could muster in the face.

Draco flinched back surprised and looked at her with such betrayal she almost felt sorry, but the fury inside her; all the feelings were bubbling up and she was about to turn into a raging volcano. "Get out." She hissed.

"No." Draco's eyes went steely silver, squinting at her through a glare.

"Then I will go." She moved to get up but Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her down right on her bottom. "How dare you?!" She shoved him away and hit him repeadedly wherever she could until his hands snatched her wrist in a firm grasp; his eyes flashing a solid black before returning to normal.

"You will stop this right now Hermione." He warned. "I only meant to come and see how you were doing."

"I'm fine and I don't need you to check up on me as if I were some child."

"The way you have been acting says otherwise."

The curt tone, the rude way it was said; it sparked something in Hermione. A mixture of things actually. She had felt hurt that he could say something like that to her in such a way, hurt that he had insulted her behavior; didn't he understand she couldn't control it? Then she felt this need in her to hurt him, to make him feel and know without a doubt how she was feeling; how she had been feeling every second since the war had ended.

"I hate you, get out of my face." She spat, a wave of guilt hitting her when he moaned and gripped his chest. He recovered as quickly as she did and both hands were on her face; and she almost caved into the little amount of comfort they provided.

"You don't mean that, I know you don't." He stroked her cheek with his thumb, fighting through the pain that threatened to engulf him and end his life. She had said it, after they had mated and everything they had gone through she had the audacity to say she hated him; and regardless if she meant it or not it was enough to kill him.

Hermione could feel the warmth from his hands spreading through her cheeks and travelling along her body. It felt so comfortable and familiar, she wanted to cave in and to snap herself out of this funky mood she had put herself in. The one where she hated the man who made her whole, the one where she pushed away that same man and ran away from her feelings. She knew the only reason why she did it was because she wanted to feel the pain of being alone and couldn't figure out why she got to be happy when everyone else was dead. She did it to punish herself and him, for reasons she couldn't explain; grief was blinding that way. It made you do unspeakable things and hurt the people around you without so much as a blink of an eye and you didn't even realize you had done it. And she knew from passed experience all she had to do was hug him, have him hold her and all her pain would be gone. It would all be over. But she couldn't allow that, she seemed too far gone now and she felt crazy enough for having so much anger let alone suddenly changing her emotions on him.

Hermione pushed him away from her again, his hands falling off of her cheeks loosely. "You don't know that."

"I do know that," He reached up slowly, his hands grazing her arms and Hermione felt her insides flutter. "You like how I touch you," He let his nose nuzzle her hair before he pulled away and looked into her eyes. "You're heartbeat has accelerated, your breathing has increased and you shaking right now. You don't hate me, its impossible. You know that, we have mated already and while our relationship is different from others its also known that unless I did something truly horrific; you cant hate me."

"I really need you to stay away from me." She got up to leave but Draco was right behind her, he grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her against the wall so she had no where to go but to look into his eyes.

"Hermione, you walk out this door and I will walk out of your life. It will kill me and I don't care, you are killing me by being the the way you are now. I will not stand for this anymore its not healthy and quite frankly its boring me to tears." He hoped to Merlin he has said something that would provoke her enough to realize her behavior.

Hermione was shaking fiercly, her arms just wanted to wrap around his neck but everything else in her body was screaming at her to stop, and new tears found a way into her eyes. "Then go." She whispered, not realizing the words had come out of her mouth before it was too late.

Draco looked shocked for a moment and had to blink through his confusion before he picked her up, flinging her over his shoulder and throwing her onto the bed roughly. She tried to struggle against him, he shifted himself so his body was pressed completely against hers and she couldn't move from his grip; his arms holding her wrists down. She was grunting. growling and squirming with all of her might until she finally released a strangled scream and burst into fitful tears as frusteration, greif and all the other emotions that she couldn't make sense of rose to the surface and flooded out; she went limp underneath him.

He pushed aside the wet, matted hair that stuck to her face and peppered it with kisses. He stroked her cheek and shifted off of her, pulling her to her side while she cried her heart out. His hands held her face and she had curled up into a ball against him. Draco felt every single thing she did, but he imagined that whatever she was feeling had to have been worse than what he was feeling, he had only felt what she was at this momet, allowed himself to feel it; while she felt it every day and hid it from everyone around her. She was shaking with the effort it took for her to cry and all Draco could do was hold her tightly.

"I don't know what's happening to me." She whimpered. "One minute I think I am fine, the next I am so lost."

"Thats normal with everything you've gone through." He whispered. "Stop pushing me away and let me help you."

"Is there anything you really can do?" Hermione asked.

"Remember when you had your meltdown in the Manor after you had found out Voldemort was coming to meet you. You were behaving the same way you were now, its just lasting longer right now. And remember as soon as I held you, it was almost instantaneous, you calmed down. That was all it took, thats all it takes. The more you push me away the worse you and I both feel, and I know you know this. Let me hold you, let me love you Hermione. We don't have to keep living this way."

"I need it."

"Why? Why do you need to feel that way?"

Hermione pulled away from him and looked over his shoulder to stare at the wall lost in thought. Should she say it, should she not? It was a question she didn't know, would anyone understand it? She didn't even understand it herself. All she knew was why should she have any scrap of happiness when the people she loved who had died had nothing anymore; they lost everything and why shouldn't she? Then adding all the things she had gone through, it was just piling up into one ugly heap of depression. "I..." She paused, her eyes flicking to his. He was studying her intently.

"I already know the answer." He tucked a stray peice of hair behind her ears. "You have to let it go."

"How?!" She wailed. "They are all dead, every single one of them is dead!"

Draco looked at the raginig storms in her eyes and his heart went out to her. "I know that and there is nothing that will bring them back and there is nothing you could have done that would have prevented it. Death was inevitable. I'm sorry but its the fact of it, love. We knew that going in to the war people were going to die."

Hermione let his words sink into her mind and heart, covering her in what felt like a cool layer of snow that made her calm down slightly. "I just miss them so much. Teddy will never have his parents, Neville will never get to marry Luna like he had always fantasized about. I bet she doesn't even know how he feels. Or didn't. And I could have prevented his death." She said, pulling away and sitting crossed leg on the bed. Her hair fell around her like a curtain, "If I had kept my mouth shut and not provoked him. I should hav-"

"No Hermione. He risked his life and had become a hero that day. If you had died, I would have died. If I had died you would have refused to live. You can't live in a world of should have's, you have to snap out of this. I know you can."

Hermione looked up at him with a watery gaze before she broke into another round of tears. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. It felt like every part of her was on fire, the pain inside of her chest was unlike anything she had ever felt; she would have preferred being tortured instead of this, at least she knew that would have stopped. This was a growing thing inside of her; building up until she couldn't breath. How could she accept the death of her friends? Of Teddy's family? It all seemed so hopeless, the pain was nothing she could ever describe. These past weeks she had been filled with intense greif, sad memories and unanswered questions that haunted her every waking moment. She felt she couldn't ever be the same, that things were never going to be normal again and this pain was what she deserved. But part of her wanted to move on and she didn't know if that made her a bad person, she wanted to move past this grief but she was terrified because past this wall of grief was going to be another wall of trauma; it was all piling against her.

Draco sat and watched her cry for a while, he'd never heard anything like it. It was a deep and throaty cry that tore at her soul and the make up of who she was. She tried to muffle the noise but pain this severe couldn't be stopped. He moved slowly off the bed to not disturb her and moved behind her, pulling her back into his chest as he lay against the headboard. He felt her tremers against him and he couldn't help but let some of his own tears escape. He had lost people too, his friend Goyle, his mom was just a hallow shell of who she used to be now and his father was losing his mind. He had watched his mate suffer and couldn't do anything about it, he hadn't been cunning enough to predict a spell that would hold him in place and prevent from helping her. He couldn't remember when their lives had fallen apart so quickly. In a blink things had changed, some good some bad. And life had become uncertain.

Hermione woke slowly at first, then all at once as she sat up in bed. Her face felt swollen, her eyes painfully dry and puffy, her head pounded and her throat ached. Last night hit her like a train as she remembered all her feelings had come to the surface. She rubbed her face before looking around her room, it was empty. The bed around her felt cold; she had been the only one in it for hours. She stood up shakily and headed for the bathroom, last night playing in her head over and over again. She had pushed Draco to his limit probably, that must have been why he wasn't here right now; she told him t go and he left. It would have probably been better this way.

She sat on the edge of the toilet, swallowing the sudden nausea that attacked her body. She had been throwing up these past couple of weeks, her body rejecting whatever Dark Magic she had been exposed to when she was at 's; Draco assured her it would go away soon and it definately had lessoned. She could swallow against the nausea and it would slowly disappear instead of her needing to throw up. After a couple of deep breaths she turned on the tub and decided on a bubble bath to soothe her, she went into one of the drawers and pulled it out, revealing rows and rows of different bottles with different potions and a special bubble concoction Draco had made for her. It was truly marvelous. It gave her a mix of bubbles, calming relaxation and even enhanced her mood slightly. It was exactly what she needed.

She dumped the contents into the tub and watched as the bubbles sprung to life and surrounded the sides of the tub first before filling in the rest of the tub. She sniffed in the scent of lavendar vanilla and felt the calming sense fill her already. Once when the tub was filled she felt foolish, in all of her morning haze she had forgotten to check on Teddy. She had never forgotten Teddy before. Groaning she turned off the water and headed out of the bathroom and to his bedroom. Her mind just wasn't clear as of late.

Hermione opened the door quietly only to find the bedroom empty. She tried not to panic, to not jump to conclusions. "Draco?" She called. Just as she turned out of the room he was finishing climbing up the stairs. "Where's Teddy?"

"He is with ." He said, slowly taking a step towards her as if he was testing his boundries.

"Why?"

"We could use a break. I have some things I want to talk to you about and I think you could do with some rest."

"I am perfectly capable of handling Teddy," She said, feeling her anger roar to life. She took a few deep breaths to get it under control for a second before she looked at him once again.

"I didn't mean you couldn't. I just thought it would be nice to have a break was all."

And just like that it roared. "If you wanted a break you shouldn't have suggested we take Teddy in!"

Draco just stared at her for a moment before he looked away, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what else to do. I don't know what to say to help you."

Hermione didn't have the answers for him. She didn't even know, but she knew her anger wasn't meant for him. It wasn't meant for anyone really; it was just a feeling she had from all the events within the past year. It swarmed her senses and ate her alive every second of everyday and Draco was her punching bag. Last night, even when he threatened to leave, he saw through her cold demenor and comforted her despite everything else. And it had felt so good to lay everything out on the table, to have him hold her. And here she was acting the same way she was the night before. She took a deep breath. In out. In out. She had to get through this, had to work through and fight it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

She walked passed Draco, ignoring that he was following her to the bathroom. He closed the door and tentatively walked up behind her, his hands reaching for her waist. Hermione grabbed his hands and pushed them away from her and turned to face him instead, her eyes looking over his handsome face and remembering all he had done for her. He looked so sick right now, so woundned, just like how he looked before they had mated. She was taking a toll on him and if this were normal circumstances she would hsve broke it off and told him to go. But they were far from normal. She needed him as sure as she needed air and maybe, just maybe, if she touched him it would go away. By the time she reconnected with his eyes he was getting ready to turn away from her. Her hand snatched out and grabbed his arms, the familiar electric current replacing her anger. Draco looked at her and she smiled at him slightly.

"I would like to kiss you now."

"Not yet. I would like to take my bath if you don't mind."

Draco looked her dead in the eyes before lowering his hand to the hem of her tanktop and slowly lifting the fabric up abover her head. As his fingers grazed her torso he felt her shiver against him, he hooked his thumbs on her silky pajama pants and underwear, pulling them down her smooth skin and landing in a pool of cloth on the floor. Hermione stepped away from the clothes looking almost shyly at him. It had been a while since he had seen her competely naked, she had always been turned away from him when she changed or avoided changing witih him in the room; and for some strange reason to her it felt foreign and she was nervous. She turned around and stepped into the tub, it really was a massive tub and she found herself smiling as she recalled almost drowning the first time she had ever taken a bath in Draco's tub at the Manor.

She looked up with Draco shyly, "This bath is very comfortable and there is a high probablity that I could fall asleep, which would lead me to drowning. I would feel much safer if you would join me."

Draco felt a smile split his face, he grabbed a towel and placed it next to hers before undressing himself and bringing himself into the tub, leaning against the cool back of it. "I wouldn't want that." He eyes Hermione at one end of the tub, her knees pulled into her chest and her chin resting on them as she stared at him; the tips of her hair floating on top of the water. She was radiant. "Can we talk?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Last night. How are you feeling?"

"Awful. " She lifted up her wet hands to rub her face, as if to wash away the memory of all the tears she shed.

"Anything else?"

"Angry I suppose."

"Why?"

"Cause you wont stop talking about it." She said with a little smile. " Because I couldn't keep living in my little world."

"You're world was destructive."

"It felt safe." She sighed. "It was where I belonged, I just didn't know when to leave or if I wanted to for that matter."

"You were hurting everyone around you Hermione."

"I know. Last night could have ruined everything we fought for, everything we earned from living through a war. I think I have recovered from it some what. I realize that they are dead and that I will not be getting them back," Her eyes welled up with tears. "I took it harder than some people but its not just that; losing them wasn't the only thing that made me how I was."

"Then what else is going on in that brilliant head of yours?" He asked, reaching for one of her hands and surprised when she didn't pull away from him.

"Its everything else. The trauma, the running, the fear. It had been piling up for years while Harry, Ron and I waited for the war to happen we had spent every year of our childhood preparing and fighting the smaller wars within the school. I miss my parents. If I could figure out how to reverse the spell they would hate me for it and theres no telling what damage it could do. The guilt of being asleep while all those things happend at the end, I couldn't be there for anyone in their time of pain and I couldn't process the time I had lost. Everything that has been going on recently with your father. And the torture. It haunts me every night. I will never be able to forget Bellatrix or Amycus. None of them. It just all seems like too much."

Draco adjusted themselves so she was leaning against his chest while he rubbed soothing circles on her hipbone. "This is a start you know."

"I know, I promise I will try harder. I'll be honest about what's going on inside my head."

"And in return I promise that I will be there for you, every nightmare and tear you have I will be right by your side. I will never leave."

"That's just your Veela talking." She sighed, in a joking matter.

Draco lifted her head so she would look at him. "That is me talking."


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note: Hey friends, fans and Dramonie lovers. I hope everything is well, I am trying to write up some chapters for you all I am just struggling a little bit. The original things that I had thought up with my brother has had plot holes in it that I can't figure out how to fill so I am trying to figure out what exactly to do. I shouldn't have started a sequel, that might have been the route to go, but alas I am here and I will not give up and we just have to keep fingers crossed and push foreward. I hope this isn't too disappointing for you all and that you enjoy this chapter as well. Reviews are welcome I suppose, they just make me a little nervous I guess. Alright onto the story folks! :)

Chapter 6:

It had been a month since Hermione's blow out of emotions and life had been great. Well as great as it could have been since everything had happened. She was dealing with things her own way, in a healthy way, and allowed Draco to comfort her. There were obvious times when she felt like she didn't want to be held by him and those were the times when he did it anyway to break through the defensive wall she had created to keep him out; and everytime she would melt into his arms and allow his comfort to flow through her. It was a work in progress. She was talking more, actually reading instead of robotically flipping pages and she was thinking about going out to see Ginny. Things were going really well for her all in all. She had her up and down days, Draco understood those. She would just go to the bedroom and lay down for a while; take a nap or read, and when she felt like she could handle it again she would come out and the three of them would go for a walk. They avoided the topic of Lucius and the events that had happened when they had moved into their new home, Draco was searching for answers on his own to spare her, but all the Dark Magic was out of her system by now. Her health was in good shape, her mental state was getting there so all in all things were going really well and Draco was pleased at her efforts.

They enjoyed having Teddy around, Hermione read to him every night before bed and Draco would lean in the doorway listening. She was wonderful with him and they were surprised at his development, he had strong legs that liked to kick the water during bath time and he was managing to lift his head up more and more, almost rolling over and he had finally been able to get his eyes to be the same color. He was almost six months now and it blew Draco out of the water,They had been parents for two months and it was going great. It didn't surprise him how easily Hermione went into mother mode, it did surprise him how easily he adjusted. Teddy was an easy enough child, they would go out in the front lawn sometimes and the neighbors were absolutely enamoured by their little family. Things were happening so perfectly, but it seemed Hermione was having an off day.

Teddy was sitting on the little blanket they used for when they went outside, he had some toys in his hand that rattled everytime he swung his arms around. Draco was lying on his side, propped up on his elbow by Teddy and Hermione had a book in her lap that she was 'reading' but instead it was just sitting limply in her hands.

"Are you going to see Ginny today? She owled this morning asking." Draco asked, trying to strike up conversation.

"No." Hermione sighed, shutting her book. "I don't feel up to it today."

"What's going on? You had a really good day yesterday, was it the letter?"

Hogwarts had sent letters to all former students which encouraged them to come back to redo their missed school year. It was a perfect opportunity for students to continue their education in a safer environment than before. Hermione had been so excited before she had looked back and forth between Teddy and Draco and then it was as if her mind travelled far away. She couldn't go back there, not after everything.

"Maybe a little. But not in the way that you think." She tossed the book to the side rubbing her face with her hands; suddenly exhausted.

"What's bothering you?" Draco stood up and sat behind her, pulling her to his chest again. It was one of his tricks to comfort her and bring the truth out. Not that either of them complained it felt nice. But like normal she resisted at first, then felt herself melt into his embrace.

"Well I miss school. But I don't think I could go back to Hogwarts, not after everything that happened. I would only see what had happened there and I am not ready to do magic." Hermione said, ever since the war she hadn't picked up her wand. She said she needed a break from something that had caused so much damage, Draco understood this and she understood that he would keep using his; it was all her knew.

"If you wanted we could transfer you somewhere else."

"No. I am content with what I have now. This sounds awful but I don't want to work. I want to just relax for a few years and realize that the stress of life or death situations is gone. It seems so pathetic that I am not doing anything with my life but this is what I want."

"You are doing something with your life. You have me and you have taken in Teddy, that's more than what others have done. It's more than what others would be willing to do. Actually I have a question for you."

"What's that?" She said, turning her head to look at him.

"What would your opinion be on adopting Teddy? He officially is ours."

Hermione turned at looked at the chubby cheeked little boy in front of her. He had light sandy hair like his father and dark brown eyes like his mother. She could never replace them but she couldn't help but feel like his mother and love him as though he were her own. But she didn't want to have Draco do something that he might not really want, even if his Veela told him just so it would please her.

"What is your opinion on it?" She asked him.

"I love the little bugger. More than I thought possible. I love him and I love you. I would love to have him become apart of the family and I would love to marry you and make every part of our lives official. Like what you always talk about."

"Its a lot to think about." She said, although she couldn't help the excited feeling that pulsed through her at the idea of marrying Draco and having Teddy as a son; but the darkness she had been feeling was overwhelming her, in a way that made her feel that blackness was going to consume her. "I'm sorry I have to go lay down." She went to stand, suddenly feeling dizzy, her hand placing itself on Draco's shoulder for support before she straightened herself and practically ran into the house.

Draco sighed and turned his attention back to Teddy, waving as their neighbor; Miss. Jessica Wilkins, pulled up next door. She got out of the car and headed over into their lawn, sitting down next to Teddy. They had gotten to know her pretty well and she was a well rounded girl, very sweet and good with Teddy. She often watched Teddy when Hermione had really bad days, she never asked questions and she just simply understood. She had confided in Draco that her mother had suffered from depression and she completely understood.

"Wheres Hermione?"

"She's having one of her days. She just went in to get some rest."

"They've been happening more frequently?"

"A little. She will get through this one like every other one."

Jessica stayed silent for a moment, contemplating if what she was going to say was out of line or not. She chose the latter. "Why do you stay? If you don't mind my asking. You could take Teddy and go at anytime so why do you stay and deal with it?"

Draco tried not to get enraged, it was a question that anyone would ask. Hermione had asked him herself when she was lost in her anguish. "I love her. I love her more than life itself and the reason that she is the way that she is; it's not her fault. The things that happened to her were things she didn't ask for and I was responsible for some of it. No one deserves to be alone."

"You are with her out of guilt? You think some of the things were your fault, and I don't mean to be rude but if you are with her because you feel guilty then you are only going to hurt her more."

Draco couldn't help releasing a throaty chuckle. "No, its much deeper than that. I love her with everything that I am. " LITERALLY.

"Its good that love like that still exists." Jessica smiled. "Hermione's never told me what she had gone through, I see some scars on her arm but whenever I have asked she always changed the subject."

"Its her personal business, not something she likes to talk about." He felt slightly enraged that the black haired neighbor had the gall to ask Hermione about her scars. She had no filter really.

"What did happen?" She asked shyly.

Draco looked at her through his pale lashes before decided that she deserved to know some sort of the truth. She had watched Teddy last minute for them multiple times, and she had never before asked so many questions. It was perfectly reasonable for her to be curious and she had the right to know the type of people she lived next to and helped out. Draco took a deep breath. "There was a type of war going on that she got mixed up in because of me."

"Like gang related?"

"Yeah," Draco said, not having the slightest idea as to what that meant. "My father was apart of this 'gang' and I was sworn into it because of him. "He rolled up his sleeve to show the Dark Mark which branded him forever. "She was on the opposite side, fighting to save the people that we were going against. She was one of those people. I fell in love with her and she and I were inseparable until it became closer and closer to where things were going to fall got branded like me, lost a lot of friends along the way and faced...torture. It's taken a toll on all of us, her the most. She went through a little more than what any of us almost died for her cause, and she was brave until the very end. Hell she is still brave."

Jessica had tears in her eyes, "I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No. Its good to talk about sometimes, helps me know how grateful I am to have her."

" I think it's really admirable that you sti-"

Draco had jumped up suddenly, feeling a tightness in his chest and nausea overwhelm him. Without even asking to go he ran towards the house leaving Teddy with Jessica. He burst through the door, allowing her scent to enter his nose and bring him to her. He ended up in the kitchen with Hermione on the floor, the faucet was on and a glass was shattered next to her head. Draco shut off the water and gently rolled Hermione to her side. She looked so pale, a trail of blood coming from her nose. He heard footsteps behind him and a crying Teddy.

"Oh my God!" Jessica exclaimed. "She has to go to the hospital."

"I know." He scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, listening intently for her little pulse. "Can you watch Teddy?"

"Of course. Go. I will clean up here."

Without so much as a backwards glance Draco ran to their attached garage, their apparition point, and apparated them to 's.

Hermione awoke groggily, her stomach protesting in pain and her head pounding right behind the eyes. She tried to speak but her throat was too dry, she felt a hand holding onto hers; both of them resting on an itchy sheet. She opened her eyes, flinching at the bright fluorescent light bulbs. She managed to roll over, her face pressing against the pillow as she moaned in agony, that simple movement hurt so much. The hand around hers tightened and she saw Draco sitting next to her in a stiff plastic chair. His hair was ruffled and his eyes red rimmed. He looked so lost in thought until he heard her moan, then his eyes were on hers in an instant.

"Thank Merlin you are alright." He physically sagged with relief.

"What happened?" Hermione croaked.

"The healers will be in soon to explain everything, I just found you lying on the kitchen floor."

Hermione nodded remembering slightly. She had come inside to rest, trying to avoid a panic attack; she had needed water and just as she was filling up the glass it had all turned dark. Her thoughts were fuzzy the entire day, she could only remember the gripping exhaustion that had overcome her. She tried to pull herself up but her body was going to cooperate with that demand, it was far too tired for it.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not long. Just today." Was Draco's quick response. Hermione losing time did not bode well for her.

"My head hurts." She whimpered, her eyes fluttering closed again. Hermione reached for the hand that was holding hers and brought it to hold the cheek that was against the pillow instead; taking his other hand in hers. The coolness of his palm was calming slightly but it did nothing for her pain. "Draco, can you do that Veela thing?" She muttered, her lips hardly opening for the words.

"Which Veela thing?" He couldn't suppress a smile, with her not in complete peril it was kind of adorable to have her being so vulnerable; Draco knew how sick that thought was but he couldn't help it.

"Teeth Venom thing." She peeked one eye open, confused when he had a smile on his face. "What in the earth are you smiling at?"

"Nothing. Just happy you are alright."

"Well that's all fine and dandy but I don't feel alright." She huffed.

Draco was about to respond when the door to her room opened up again, the Healer walking through with a floating clipboard by his side. He was a tall, beady eyed man with quite the impressive round stomach that didn't fit his length at all. But when he smiled at the pair Hermione found it hard not to be comforted by it and allowed her eyes to close once more, it was hard to find a good healer these days who actually cared about their patients and as far as Hermione was concerned; she could trust this one.

"Miss. Granger. . I am Gregory Mallor, the Head Healer on your case."

Draco slowly pulled his hands from Hermione, so as not to disturb her; got up and shook the Healer's hand. Hermione held her little hand out for him to shake and then both men took a seat across from her. Draco retaking his place earlier, seeing as it brought the most comfort; and the Healer keeping a professional distance away.

"Now I have some questions for the both of you. You are a Veela, is that correct ? And Miss. Granger is your mate?"

"I am not a full Veela but yes I have Veela blood in me and Hermione is my mate."

"This may seem like a foolish question but have you already mated?"

Hermione groaned in embarrassment and pushed her face further into the pillow, her cheeks gaining a nice pink that was missing before. "Yes." Draco said with a little smile, his thumb stroking her cheek.

"Did you by chance marry at all?"

"What?" Hermione said, sitting up quickly and grabbing Draco's shoulder for support. "No we didn't have time to get married, there was a war going on. But I assure you that just because we mated before marriage goes not make us bad people; his time was running out and I loved him too much to let anything happen. Further more-"

"Love," Draco said, holding up a pale hand to stop her. "Let him do his job, he didn't mean anything like that."

Hermione looked back and forth between the Healer and Draco, suddenly embarrassed. It was no secret to her and Draco that Hermione was a virgin when they had mated, and she had told him that she'd promised her parents to wait until after marriage. To her it felt like that was the only thing she had left from them and she had let them down in that aspect, she felt guilty for it but she loved Draco enough to get over it; his life was on the line. But it didn't mean the subject wasn't a touchy one for her.

"Sorry." She mumbled. Hermione put her arm around Draco's neck and pulled herself onto his lap, her head pressing into the crook of his neck. This was nice. This was what she had been missing out on these past couple of months. Sighing she closed her eyes and gestured for the Healer to continue.

"Well before I say anything else, I just wanted to comment on how unique your pairing seems to be. Just from this alone."

"Why do you say that?" Draco asked.

" Miss. Granger was immediately discontent with what I had said, as a Veela you should feel that and respond accordingly as to what would please her and sooth her. You did not do that however. Is there any reason why?And continuing on with that, when she said she loved you, your Veela should have been hurt through that. She didn't say because she loves you that's why you mated but she said loved, it is a form of rejection and you didn't react one bit to it."

"Mr. Mallor," Draco started. "Are you aware of the effects the war had on her specifically? On what had happened?"

"I had heard about those events, yes." He said with a flinch.

"Hermione is skilled in occlumency, which has helped her build walls to keep me out of what she is feeling. Only recently did we start to break down those walls; she lets me feel what she wants me to feel and I don't push her into letting me feel everything. I could do it if I so choose but it is her choice."

"Yes, but your Veela should make you want to do it. This is very curious. Continue." He leaned forward, both elbows resting on his knees.

"As i was saying. I wanted to do it, hell I almost did a few times, but I love her and that is an invasion of privacy that I have had the unfortunate privilege of experiencing one to many times; I couldn't do that to her. As for the rejection phase, I only feel it when she is at her most desperate. When she tells me she hates me or to go away; that's when I feel it. Little slip up in words like that mean nothing to me."

"Draco," Hermione whined. "I have been so awful to you." She snuggled closer into his warm embrace, loving every bit of it. She didn't necessarily like that he was sharing their private life with a practical stranger but she felt she needed to hear these words too and perhaps then they could find out what's wrong with her. Every detail helps to solve the hardest mystery, that was something Hermione learned this year; you can't leave anything out.

"Right. how is it that she was able to be so... indifferent to you? She should be drawn to you shouldn't she?"

"One would think, but she is very stubborn. Her emotions were too much for her and our Veela coupling was under the Romance category, we were always harsh with each other during school and as it turns out we were always meant to be together; I didn't expect our harshness to disappear once we mated, it makes up who we are. If that makes any sense. Does this have anything to do with anything?" He said, getting impatient.

"I believe it does. You said she was exposed to Dark Magic?"

"Yeah, she was sick for weeks following, trying to expel the magic."

"Okay. I believe part of the reason she was able to be so harsh to you was because the Dark Magic was pushing her to be that way. It allowed the dark thoughts to hover, along with the sadness, grief and any anger she experienced. All negative feelings were amplified on top of what she had already decided, which was pushing you away. Now, I believe this explains why you could not feel what was wrong with her."

"What is wrong with her?" Draco snapped, his patients running out. It felt like they had been talking for hours and no results to be shown.

"Well, I asked if you were married because it appears Miss Granger is pregnant. And that can only happen if you were married or she was unfaithful. Which you would have known right away . However it is more complex than that, I need to know when you mated."

Hermione was shaking with confusion, this was not making sense at all to her. "The end of March, early April."

"Curious. You are 5 months pregnant."

At this Hermione laughed, it was one of those desperate laughs when you didn't know what else to do. "It's impossible. Do I look 5 months pregnant to you?"

"No you don't. But Mr. Malfoy would you do the honors. I want you to smell her; take in her scent and tell me if anything is different."

Draco stood up, placing Hermione on the bed and allowed his Veela senses to come over him. He laid her back and started taking deep breaths at her neck; placing a kiss on her mark that made her shiver. He continued down to her chest, inhaling every so often. She smelled like Vanilla and Lavender, it was so soothing for him. He continued down her stomach and was confused when he caught a hint of something else...He took another deep breath. Rose? Vanilla, Lavender and Rose. That wasn't normal. He allowed himself to pause for a second, placing a hand; palm down, on the base of her stomach. He took another deep breath and the scent was stronger, along with the huge waves of hormones that were hitting him square in the face. He pulled away from her and sat down, his eyes filling with tears.

"Is it mine?" He questioned.

"Does the smell call to you? Is the scent nice?" Healer Mallor asked.

"Yes."

"If it wasn't it would repulse you. Now this is where things get tricky and I have no answer for you exactly. You wouldn't have been able to get pregnant until after you were married, the Veela magic prevents such a thing. However here we are, exactly five months after you mated you are five months pregnant. But then we have to look at the fact that your body is pregnant but...there is no baby inside of Miss Granger."

"I'm so confused!" Hermione screamed. Draco got up to sit next to her but she pushed him away, he sat down rejected and ignored the pain in his chest. "Don't. This doesn't make any sense! The Veela magic prevents pregnancy, and even if I was pregnant; there was a war. Where, if you have forgotten, I was tortured. That alone would have caused a miscarriage. No to mention the fact that the wand had physically been inserted in me, in my stomach. Do you have any explanation to this whatsoever? And if I am pregnant then where is it? Where's the baby?" Tears had started falling from her eyes at this point, and she shakily reached for Draco. He didn't grab her right away but when he felt that she was done being angry he quickly wrapped her in his arms.

"Miss Granger," Healer Mallor started, leaning back in his chair. "These are questions we don't have answers too, but I believe that Dark Magic has something to do with it. With further investigation my team has come to discover that there is a bond between your pregnancy and some unknown force. We believe that someone else is carrying your child, why it happened that way we do not know."

"But as far as you know the baby is healthy and fine?" Draco asked.

"Yes."

"Then that is our main concern."

"But Miss. Granger, you must be careful. We don't know the extent of the bond. If you were to get hurt it could affect the woman who is carrying the child or the child itself. We just don't know yet."

"Can we find this baby? Through the bond?" Hermione asked, lifting her head from Draco's neck.

"We will have my team work on that immediately. We will have them decipher the bond and find the connection."

"Right. Thank you for everything. Keep in touch." Draco said, standing up with Hermione in his arms.

" ?"

"We have stayed here long enough, I need to get her home and there is nothing else you can do for us. Our son is at home with a last minute babysitter and we don't have time for chit chat."

With that Draco apparated with a pop to their front door, eyeing around them to make sure no one was watching and if they were he would have to obliviate them. He set Hermione down, his arm around her waist for support. She had stopped walking and almost looked to be in a daze.

"You said our son."

Draco turned and held her cheeks. "He is our son. Papers don't mean anything, blood doesn't mean anything. That is our son."

"We have another child somewhere on the way."

"We will find her." Draco said.

"What makes you think it's girl?"

"I have a gut feeling."


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey guys I hope these chapters are finding you all well. I have a feeling they aren't as good as what they could be but I have been trying to get passed all the nonsense I have been dealing with and just write. I kinda hate myself for deciding on a sequel but I feel that if I have already started it and posted chapters I can't go back now. I recently learned about a Beta? I am a complete fanfiction virgin I feel, like I learned what lemon was halfway through For Always. Anyway I guess I am looking for a Beta to help me write and edit since I don't have one anymore. My brother was mine previously but somethings happened and so I have no other Beta. I would also like an explanation as to what a Beta does exactly, anyway I wanted to thank you and I hope this isn't a bad chapter. They are starting to make up here. Love you all!

Chapter 7

"You're alright!" Jessica exclaimed, walking to the front door with a sleeping Teddy.

"Yeah," Hermione laughed. "Nothing serious, over exhaustion was all."

"Thank goodness." She sighed. Draco reached over and took Teddy from her arms with a smile as his head curved to the crook of his neck.

"I'm gonna bring him upstairs, love." Kissing Hermione's forehead he headed upstairs leaving the girls alone.

It wasn't that Hermione didn't like Jessica, it wasn't that at all. It was just that she always looked at Draco too long and looked at Hermione like she felt bad for her. It was rather insulting, not to toot her own horn or anything but she was Hermione Granger, War Heroine and helper in the defeat of Voldemort, not to mention the highest scores through out her school days. She didn't need the pity. Hermione bounced on the balls of her feet awkwardly for a moment before gesturing for the two of them to head to the sitting room.

"I really appreciate you watching him last minute, I hope everything was easy to find. I know when you watch him its at your house normally and we always have a diaper bag set up for you so I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"No everything was fine. I was taking a look at your bookshelves and you have some interesting titles. Hogwarts: A History, it has to be one of the most interesting fictional books I have ever read in my entire life. I paged through it, I hope you don't mind."

Hermione didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or panic about the situation, Muggles weren't supposed to be exposed to anything magical unless they were in your family or if it was a life threatening situation, which you could just obliviate them afterwards so it was no big deal. But this was different, she had just stumbled upon it and thought it was just a fictitious book. And that made Hermione want to laugh.

Clearing ysher throat she gave Jessica a genuine smile, "No I don't mind. It is a good book, one of my favorites."

"I love the History book format with it being a fictional world, its unique."

"That's for sure."

Draco had bounded down the stairs, in a happier mood then what he had been when he had gone up. "I just love watching him sleep. He's getting so big." His arms snaked around Hermione's shoulders.

There was an awkward pause.

"So..." Jessica said.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Hermione offered, maybe if they got to know each other a little bit more things would go smoother.

"Oh, thanks but my sisters coming over and I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Bring her with." Draco said. "Dinners at five, see you then." With a head nod Draco dismissed her and opened the door for her; you can take the aristocrat Malfoy out of the home but you can't take the aristocrat out of the Malfoy. Jessica went slowly, with a small smile and a little blush on her cheeks. Hermione couldn't tell if Draco was oblivious to it or ignoring it for her case but Hermione immediately regretted inviting her to dinner. The jealous green monster inside of her was growing by the second.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked, a smirk on his face.

" I don't know. Nothing." She mumbled, walking to the kitchen.

Draco followed after her like a lost puppy. He knew what was wrong, he just wanted to hear her say it. The spit fire that she was, he wanted it to come out like old times. And Merlin it made him feel wanted and aroused. He swallowed hard as he leaned against the granite counter top to look at her through pale eye lashes.

"Spaghetti for dinner?" Hermione asked.

"Sure."

Hermione stared at him strangely before she suddenly felt this hit of darkness press against her heart. She had a lot to take in and it finally smacked her right in the face. The war was over, for that she was relieved; but the consequences of that war and the aftermath were creeping up on her. She had tried stuffing everything for so long and now she was realizing what was happening. Now it was a matter with dealing with those things, and on top of that she had completely blocked out the events with Lucius; while everything had been quiet recently it didn't mean that it didn't happen. And now this whole baby situation, it was like all the difficult times were done with but then more problems spilled over her. And how could she explain any of it, that is what bothered her the most. There was no easy explanation and the Healers didn't know so they were busy with an ongoing investigation. Hermione was a creature of knowledge and not knowing something ate her up alive.

She swallowed passed the darkness and turned to head to their bedroom without a second glance. She offered no explanation as to why she had suddenly had a mood change, but she didn't yell at Draco for following after her. She crawled onto their plush bed and curled into a ball. She couldn't even cry. She didn't have it in her to cry that's how dark she was feeling. She saw Draco standing in the corner of the room before closing the door and standing at the edge of the bed. With the golden curtains drawn it was fairly dark in the room with little cracks of sunlight peeking through.

Draco unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off, setting it on the ground gently. Then he unbuttoned his jeans and slipped them off as well. He was just in his boxers as he crawled onto the bed with her. He took off her shoes, tossing them on the floor with a soft thud. Lifting her easily off the bed he pulled the comforter down and draped it over them; wrapping his arm around her in a cocoon. He was pleased she didn't pull away from him, instead she pushed her little body closer to his, her back molding perfectly with his chest.

"What's going on?" He whispered.

"It just became too much I guess."

His hand trailed up and down her back and Hermione couldn't deny that it felt good. Merlin it was exactly what she needed, the feeling of his soft fingers lightly gracing her skin. He was cool to the touch but left a path of fire where his fingers had been. Hermione shifted herself so she was chest to chest with him, she eyed him carefully before her fingers skimmed over his taught muscle of his chest. It had been a long time since she had seen him, since she had allowed herself to SEE him in the way she was now. Perfect. He was everything she wanted in life. Hermione's eyes darted between his lips and his steel gray orbs that were watching her curiously.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Hermione blushed, embarrassed. "I want you to kiss me."

Draco cocked his head to the side in surprise before he lowered his head to hers and kissed her ever so delicately. Her lips were like silk against his, soft and warm and smooth. He was proud when she had responded so eagerly, her hands finding their way around his neck in a gripping hold. The kiss was small at first, just a lovers kiss that held so much tenderness; but it didn't take long before it became heated and the passion of an open mouthed kiss filled their room. Hermione pulled away gasping for air, her whole being on fire.

"I'm not giving up on us, on you." Draco said softly, his hand gently playing with her hair. "I love you too much for that."

"And I love you." Hermione said before she could even stop it. As soon as the words left her mouth it was like everything snapped in place, she gave him a weak smile and pulled his head down for another kiss.

Draco responded by switching their positions so she was under him and his hand found its way up to her breast, underneath her shirt; kneading the soft flesh. Hermione forgot how good this felt, she moaned into his mouth urging for more. Draco pulled from their kiss and smiled down at her softly while slowly lifting the shirt over her head. Hermione arched herself off the bed to help getting the shirt off, she reached for his hand and placed it on her breasts yearning for more. Draco ripped her bra off, his eyes turning black and his fangs protruding. Hermione felt her toes curl at the memory of them inside of her neck.

"Baby please." She moaned, surprised at her use of a pet name.

"As you wish my love." Draco took one of her breasts into his mouth, sucking harder as Hermione moaned. His tongue trailed around her nipple slowly, every once in a while he would bite down ever so softly and he could feel Hermione tremble against him. Her sent filled his nostrils with dizzying strength and his love, if possible, grew for her. One of his hands traveled quickly down her body, pushing down her pants; along with her underwear, until they were off of her completely and on the floor disparaged somewhere.

Draco's hand slid up from her angles and to the center of her body, not quite touching her until she thrust her hips towards him, a silently plea for him to touch her. Draco didn't hesitate, he pushed in his middle finger and ring finger inside of her, smiling like an idiot when she moaned his name.

"Is that good love?" Draco asked, his fingers slowly pumping inside of her entrance and entering back in quickly. "You're so fucking wet." He moaned, his voice breathy.

Normally Hermione would have found such words very crass and inappropriate, but they only egged her on. She pulled Draco's head down to hers, muffling her moan. He thrust into her faster, hitting the perfect spot each time and before Hermione knew it her hips were moving in time with his, their pace fast; and he felt the familiar tightening of her walls around him. Hermione released a guttural moan as she came around his fingers, her chest heaving. Draco removed his fingers from inside her and licked them clean, reveling in her taste.

Hermione smiled at him, a light pink covering her cheeks. "I want you."

Draco's eyes widened, practically falling out of his head. They hadn't had sex in months, he was nervous he would break a boundry she didn't want broken, that she was too induced in a blissful haze to realize what she was saying. If she really wanted this he wouldn't be able to make himself stop. He liftened himself away from her and onto his knees.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Hermione said, sitting up and placing a kiss on his cheek. She swallowed through the tears that had suddenly flooded her eyes. "I missed you, I miss you all the time and I am done with missing you when I have you right here."

"I am never going anywhere. Ever." Draco's voice took on a strained sound as he leaned over her, both of their bodies pressing against each other tightly. He removed his boxers in one movement, his shaft hovering right at her entrance.

He pushed slowly into her, groaning at her tightness as he stretched her open. He moved slowly inside of her, both moaning at the new friction, and Draco moved slowly inside of her, her hips moving in time with his. He slid out of her easily, going a little faster every now and then or slowly thrusting himself into her completely.

"Faster." She whimpered.

"I want to make love to you. Slowly and passionately."

Draco continued his slow thrusts, feeling every little contraction of her muscles. His shaft hitting the perfect spot with every movement. Hermione could feel the sensations from their love making start to build. The pressure in her stomach and the tingling that made her body ache. Her moans filled the room, surging Draco with electricity.

"Cum for me love."

Hermione felt herself let go, and Draco noticed it too. He felt her walls clench around him and her hips slowly rocking against him as she came; it was such a powerful feeling and it happened so calmly Hermione almost wanted to cry at the beauty of it. Draco thrust into her until she was off of her high before he pumped into her with everything he had. Hermione cried out at the sudden change of tempo, not that she was complaining. He was painfully filling her with his member, his speed consistently faster than before. Hermione locked her legs behind his knees, her hands finding their way to his shoulders for support. Every movement he made he was deeper inside of her, faster. Until Draco felt himself harden even more inside of her.

"Mark me." Hermione moaned, her mouth claiming his in a quick kiss.

Draco pumped into her harder a few more times before he felt her walls clench around him, and he found himself cumming hard inside of her; his teeth peircing her delicate throat. Hermione let out a screaming moan as she came, her hips grinding tightly against him as she road out her orgasm. Too soo Draco's teeth retracted from her neck and he pushed himself up on his elbows to look at her, his hips gently moving against hers while she finished comepletely.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He smiled down at her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Again." Hermione said.

"I love you." Draco chuckled.

"That's not what I am talking about." She murmured, clenching her walls around him; earning her a little moan and a jerk of the hips from him.

"You're going to be exhausted love."

"I don't care. Its been months. That's months that we have to make up. Now shut up and make love to me." She grabbed the back of his head, bringing his lips down to hers.

The best part of being a Veela was that he never got tired of touching her and wanting to be with her and doing all of these things. The best thing about being the mate of a Veela was that they never got tired of touching her and wanting her and doing what she asked. And never in her life had she ever felt so fucking good.


End file.
